Stress and productivity do not go hand in hand. Workplace stress has adverse effects on workers’ mental health, and it’s why many employers mandate PTO. While working from home (out of necessity) may have led to a better work/life balance, the ongoing pandemic has done nothing to alleviate worker’s stress levels. It’s done just the opposite. And when stress is high, motivation and productivity suffer.
The good news, however, is there’s a simple solution. One that can be used whether there’s an ongoing pandemic or not. Listening to music.
While music is most often used as a form of entertainment, listening to music can also be therapeutic. It can relieve stress and help us to become more productive.
Research has found that certain types of music can be beneficial to us while we work. Some forms help with learning and improve our ability to process information, while others serve as inspiration. In this blog post, we review 5 forms of music that can be used to reduce your stress levels and boost your productivity while at work.
The Types of Music That’ll Boost Your Productivity
Classical Music
Classical music is known for being calming, relaxing, and helping to reduce stress. It’s also thought to help increase efficiency. This theory, the Mozart effect, suggests that listening to the music of Mozart makes you smarter. While listening to Mozart may have no effect on general intelligence, a study did find that listening to baroque music helped seven out of eight radiologists improve their mood levels and concentrate better on their work.
For your listening enjoyment, here’s some of Mozart’s best from the Baroque Period.
Nature Sounds
Have you ever noticed that most sound machines come with a variety of nature sounds built in? That’s because nature sounds such as waves crashing, a babbling brook, and rain falling have a calming sensation. They have also been found to enhance cognitive function and concentration.
Feel at ease with these sounds of Ocean Waves.
Cinematic Music
Cinematic, or epic music, can make you feel like you’re doing something of great importance. It can be inspiring and help give greater purpose to the task you’re trying to accomplish, thus heightening your concentration and productivity. It’s also a mood enhancer. So, if you’re feeling lethargic and uninspired, try listening to some film scores to give you that extra boost of motivation.
Feel inspired with the Inception soundtrack.
Video Game Music
It may not be conventional but listening to music composed for video games can be a great tool to help you focus. That’s because video game music is specifically designed to keep you motivated and is engineered to help you finish tasks without stealing your concentration. The music has no lyrics and is fairly fast paced to keep you moving forward. With more than 2.4 billion gamers in the world, the video game industry has invested a lot of resources in figuring out the perfect balance to the music they use.
This is a personal favorite: The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time soundtrack.
Anything You Want
Since musical taste is subjective, there’s no right or wrong when it comes to the type of music that can serve as a motivator or stress alleviator. If you’re looking to improve your mood, or tackle a dreaded project, put on something that makes you feel good. For instance, pop music, with its upbeat and rhythmic tones, was one of the most recommended music genres for productivity in a survey of 2000 UK employees. But whether it be Pop, R&B, Country, or Jazz listen to what you love.
We close then with some Taylor Swift.
