Ever been behind, and wish you could get “in the zone” to really crank up your productivity? With the right kind of music, you may see a huge difference!
With a work day requiring so much from us, it’s frustrating how often we get distracted. Even with the knowledge that we have a lot to accomplish, or the pressure of a deadline, the distractions continuously pull you away, keeping you from accomplishing what you want to during the day.
Some people, myself included, have discovered listening to music perks them up, keeps their brain working, and helps them focus on the task at hand, thus, helping them to be more productive.
What does the research say?
A research study by Nature Neuroscience, says “Music, an abstract stimulus, can arouse feelings of euphoria and craving, similar to tangible rewards that involve dopaminergic system.” In short, listening to music leads to dopamine release in our system, a reward of sorts.
A study about the effects of music in our concentration was done and published by Tram Nguyen, a scientist on the Cambridge Brain Sciences team. It’s called “Mind your music: The effects of music-induced mood and arousal across different memory tasks”. The study was done by letting participants work on memory tasks while listening to music of different types. It found that a person’s memory performance is at its best while listening to low arousal, negative music - one with a slow tempo.
In addition to that, there are other studies that also show proof that music’s effect to our focus may vary according to our taste in music. Our personal preference contributes a lot to music’s ability to perk us up and enhance our efficiency. For some, it may be the calming sounds of nature or classical music, or it could be music of any genre as long as it’s handpicked by them. While for others, it could be music scientifically arranged to decrease distraction and spark creativity.
Photo taken from Focus@Will’s twitter post.
What Kind Of Music?
For me, I’ve noticed that music is generally effective at putting me in a good mood. To take it one step further, it’s music without words or lyrics that really enhances my ability to concentrate. For a while, I’ve had a “smooth jazz” playlist, that upbeat “Kenny G” saxophone jazz which worked fairly well. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with a playlist/app/service called ‘Focus@Will’ which provides thousands of hours of exactly this kind of music, and the improvements in my focus and productivity have been so profound that I needed to share it with you. I’m listening to it right now as I write this, and I feel like I’m in the zone, cranking through this post! Focus@Will is a music service producing playlists based on human neuroscience. The company claims that with Focus@Will, people will be in their most focused state longer than usual, and helps them stay there. This audio technology works by balancing ‘distraction’ and ‘habituation’ in your mind, keeping you focused.
Here’s what they say, and what I’ve experienced:
Music has been used across cultures for millennia to put people’s minds in specific states: only recently have neuroscientists discovered that this effect is due to the broad impact of sound on neural circuitry across the brain – not just in the auditory cortex, but in all areas of the brain, including areas that are important for memory, analysis, and creativity. Focus@will uses the brain-shaping features of sound to keep your mind from avoiding two undesirable states: distraction and habituation.
You already know about distraction – it’s what happens when you have a video on in the background, or your kid is crying, or you turn on the radio while you’re working. Part of your brain is focused on the distractor, and you can’t concentrate on your work. But what about habituation? Habituation is the other extreme – your mind gets bored with your surroundings (environmental habituation) as well as whatever you’re working on (goal habituation). Because your mind seeks novelty, habituation leads to checking your social media, opening your email, or calling a friend rather than making continuous progress on the screenplay or code you’re writing.
Keeping your mind from being distracted away from your work while simultaneously keeping you from habituating to your work is the key to focus@will’s audio technology. Without sharing our “secret sauce,” we can tell you that we do this by making sure that each piece of music is related to the previous piece in a way that keeps you from being distracted by the changes, but that each piece of music is different enough from the previous piece so that you don’t habituate to the music or your goal. In this way, we balance your mind between the two poles of distraction and habituation, keeping you focused on your work.
Give It A Try!
Don’t take my word for it, try it out! Here’s the Spotify playlist I found which has been a game changer, called Focus And Flow - high intensity.
Also, another one I use frequently which has heavier beats (slight techno vibe) called House Focus by Spotify.
Here’s a couple of youtube samples as well in case you’re not a Spotify user.
Another one I use frequently which is uptempo instrumental hip hop beats called Focus Flow by Spotify.
Below I’ve embedded a free Youtube video below to try as well.
Here’s the link to a service that produces and offers it’s own version of this music:
https://www.focusatwill.com
Next time you’re feeling out of focus and unmotivated, try one of these playlists and see how far you’ll go from zero to finished tasks.
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I’m Brian. I created Productivity Gladiator after I saw what a difference it made to share very small and very specific actions you can take right now, right away. They make a difference in your life, little by little, and the impact grows and grows. I want you to start doing the things you WANT to do, not get stuck chasing what you NEED to do. If any of this resonates with you, I’d love to talk with you or your organization about it, send me a note. Thanks for letting my share my Productivity Gladiator passion with you.