How to make the perfect playlist for your productivity

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

When you spend most of your day on the monitor, music becomes essential. It helps us stay focused and productive. But do all songs affect us that much? Or are there ideal tracks for specific tasks?

Nothing ruins my working day like forgetting headphones at home.

Music is an important part of my life, however, like most people. I mostly listen to music while I work, choosing my playlists carefully, from neoclassical to indie to electronic music. It's an endless search for the perfect sound to keep me on my toes.

Why we are addicted to music

Music helps to survive the working day. We turn to our favorite songs in difficult times, when we feel overwhelmed and need something to lift our spirits. Or when we are happy and want this state to last longer.

Neuroscientist and musician Jamshed Bharucha has discovered that there is something primal about our love of music. In particular, that creative spheres, including music, allow people to simultaneously connect with each other, help to manifest group identity and work more productively together.

In a recent one conducted among preschool children, this idea was developed. The children were paired and assigned to two groups. While some sang songs together, others just walked. Then each pair was given a toy tube with glass balls inside. The pipe was designed so that the balls can only be reached by lifting it up with two people.

By observing the behavior of the couples, the researchers found that children who sang together collaborated and helped each other more. This allowed us to draw the following conclusion.

Music can foster collaboration and empathy.

But our love for music has not only cultural prerequisites. When you listen to your favorite tracks, the part responsible for the production of dopamine - the hormone of joy, pleasure and motivation - is activated in the brain. Dopamine is released when you eat something delicious and when you get a new Twitter follower. It is because of him that you want more (and more, and more) music.

But after the hundredth subscriber or the thousandth pizza, dopamine is produced less and less. The situation is the same with music: the first time you hear a song you like, more dopamine is released, you are more excited than listening to one of your old favorite tracks.

Why Music Helps Us Work

Music has a powerful effect on our primary needs to communicate with other people, but how does this relate to our workdays?

Listening to your favorite recordings of music reduces feelings of tension and makes you happier and more productive even in stressful situations, according to a study published in the Journal of Music Therapy.

But beyond the expected advice “listen to the music you like”, there are some golden rules for putting together the perfect playlist based on the tasks you are doing.

1. For simple tasks, choose music you've already heard

Scientists have shown that a person's ability to perceive images, letters and numbers is enhanced if classical or rock is playing in the background, compared to if there were no music at all.

Another study found similar results: workers on a conveyor line felt happier, more efficient, and made fewer mistakes when listening to music.

In fact, your productivity increases when listening to music if the task is perceived as simple or monotonous (for example, if you need to answer incoming emails). So when it comes to tasks that are of the same type or boring, listen to something and you will finish them faster.

2. When studying, listen to songs without lyrics

For more thoughtful, intellectually demanding work, classical and instrumental music is more suitable: it has a stronger effect on mental abilities than songs with lyrics.

If the task turned out to be especially difficult, the best solution is to exclude all external stimuli (including music). Even subtle music in the background can lead to decreased attention. The brain spends more resources, simultaneously processing both the task and the music, - the performance drops.

3. Favorite compositions - during your favorite work

All the magic of music comes out when you are well versed in what you are doing.

So, according to the results of a study published in the Journal of the American Medial Association, it was proved that surgeons worked more accurately when their favorite music was played in the background.

But you don't have to be a medical professional to experience the benefits of good compositions. For example, writer Stephen King prefers listening to Metallica and Anthrax while creating his works.

4. Look for your comfort zone for creative work

When you need to focus, scientists advise to give preference to songs with a frequency of 50-80 beats per minute.

Dr. Emma Gray has done Spotify research on the benefits of specific types of music. In particular, she found that musical tempo in the 50–80 bpm range affects alpha rhythms in the brain. The person becomes calm, ready to work and concentrates with ease.

Alpha waves are also associated with the moment of insight - the unexpected realization of how you can solve a problem when you are in a relaxed state (the most famous example of insight is Archimedes and his "Eureka!").

In his research, Gray notes that it is the tempo, not the specific genre of music, that contributes to achieving the ideal work mood.