An article over at Lifehack.org today on the productivity effects of music at work got me thinking about the subject. Music is an important part of life for many people and I’m no exception. Music helps me relax, enjoy a good movie, celebrate a special occasion, and motivate me for doing house hold chores. Why can’t music help me be more productive at work? Listening to music while at work has become much easier for me too, since buying an iPod Video 30GB last February (almost a year old!). It’s easy to take all kinds of music to and from work and home.
I’ve had varying levels of success listening to music while at work. One particularly spectacular failure came during the month or two when I tried to listen to audio books while at work. That was definitely not a good idea, but we learn as we go, right? I would either tune my work out too much in order to focus on the audio book or I would tune the audio book out too much to focus on work. This only led to frustration in having to go back and check over work a second or even third time or having to constantly rewind the audio book in order to not be missing large portions of the story.
I’ve had better success listening to music in general, however. Certain types of music are more conducive to getting things done. For instance, heavy metal makes it harder for me to sit in my cubicle and breeze through my to-do list. I get antsy and find myself tapping my foot and other habits born out of nervous energy. So while heavy metal music might instill more energy in me, it is not productive energy.
On the other hand, I’ve tried listening to movie scores and original soundtracks and they seem to have the opposite effect on me - I feel less and less energized and more and more relaxed. The one exception seems to be the soundtrack to The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, by Harry Gregson-Williams (track 12 - The Battle - is AMAZING). Other soundtracks I’ve tried with limited success include (but aren’t limited to): Gladiator, the Star Wars movies, A Kingdom of Heaven, The 13th Warrior, and many many more.
I’ve really only found success with electronic music, or other similar upbeat music with no lyrics. Now I’m not necessarily talking about trance music or even techno, but music by groups such as Chicane, Asian Dub Foundation, Moby, and Thievery Corporation. Albums by these artists have all been frequent plays on my iPod while at work. Bands that fall between heavy metal and electronic (just about anything else with lyrics and a beat) falls in that spectrum with varying degrees of success.
So my question to the readers of this website is, do you listen to music while at work trying to get things done? If so, what has worked for you? I’m curious to know.
Tags: 4 Comments
4 responses so far ↓
I agree with you 100%. Having music while working makes me more focused and less of a chance to get bored or angry or burned out. For me it’s Postal Service, Thievery Corp, Massive Attack, Sneaker Pimps (big one), and the typical nerdcore hiphop music like MC Chris, Frontalot, and Optimus Rhyme.
Other music really depends on my mood. Sometimes I may hate a long classical piece but there are some days when I just have to hear Robert Winston and pop in one of his CDs.
For me it’s the soundtracks actually. Chronicles of Narnia is a good one. I also like The Red Violin, all 3 Lord of the Rings, and Gladiator. I also found it helpful to pick the best ones out of that and make that a playlist.
I don’t know if you like other classical much, but Mahler can be awesome for work. I might be more like your wife in that regard though.
Yeah, the LotR soundtracks are definitely awesome. I might have to try your idea of picking out the tracks I like best from various albums and putting them together in one mix. For instance, I can envision a mix of “battle songs” from various movies such as Gladiator, Lord of the Rings movies, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia, A Kingdom of Heaven, and Braveheart.
Can anyone think of other good soundtracks to try?
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