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12 Ways Music Makes You More Productive at Work

Published: Jun 19, 2017

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We've all been there. Hopelessly trying to focus on a task, and getting hopelessly frustrated in the process. Surprisingly, one solution to regaining focus is listening to music. Yes, listening to music, according to many experts, actually helps us concentrate. And here are the many reasons why music makes you more productive at work.

1. Instant Mood Lifter

A great piece of music is an instant mood lifter. Plenty of scientific evidence backs this up: we’re much happier when listening to music.

2. Makes Repetitive Tasks More Enjoyable

Oh the drudgery of repetitive tasks! Music shakes a stick at those dull ‘copy paste’ tasks and makes them even fun!

3. Gets You Into A ‘Flow State’

A flow state is when you lose yourself in the task at hand. Guess what … music, especially the right type of music, helps us get into that state.

4. Speeds Up Your Work

With music oozing through you and all those endorphins firing, you turn into something like the the Bradley Cooper character from the movie "Limitless" (without the magic pills).

5. Reduces Distractions

Distractions are the bane of the workplace. Music puts us on a ‘focus groove’ that makes us hell-bent on getting the job done.

6. Drowns Out Colleagues

We all love our colleagues (right?!). But like family, even our beloved work mates (and their chit-chat) need to be channeled out when there’s stuff that needs doing.

7. Provides Company In A Quiet Office

Not all workplaces are noisy places. Far from it. A workplace that’s too quiet can be just as big a productivity suck. Music gives you a little oasis of company so you don’t go all lonely (just don’t go singing out loud).

8. Brings Out Your Creative Side

We are not cogs in giant machine, we’re people. And people are inherently creative (they just may not know it). Music is a creativity personified, and listening to it rubs off on you too.

9. Makes You Wanna Move

The ‘office chair slump’ is a symptom of spending too long staring at your screen. With some Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag pumping into your eardrums it would be humanly impossible not not to have a little wiggle in your chair.

10. Adds A Virtual ‘Do Not Disturb’ Sign

The office equivalent of the ‘do not disturb’ sign, the headphones on head pose (the bigger the headphones the better) says loud and clear ‘I’m busy doing deep work, don’t pester me.’ Throw those pesky ear plugs in the bin and get some cans.

11. Makes You More Sociable

Come again, more sociable listening to music? Yup. You may be locked away behind a set of head cans while you’re doing your work, but when you take off those muffs you’re almost brimming with conversation you want to unleash.

12. Stops The Clock Watching

Too much clock watching is a dangerous thing. Music helps you find that flow state and before you know it, you’re immersed in the task and the day is over.

Musician and writer Zac Green is editor-in-chief of the music blog Zinginstruments.com. When he's not playing gigs in his native home of London, Zac spends his time researching and writing about music.

A version of this post was previously published on Zing Instruments.

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