Music positively affects the way we work

[Putting on some tunes while you’re working can make you more productive, and that’s just the start.]

You know those days when you’re sitting in front of your computer and it’s taking you forever to get something done? We’ve all had them.

Putting on some tunes could be just the thing to shift you into a higher gear.

“Music has an effect on mood, and mood has an effect on cognition and especially creative problem-solving, and that has an effect on productivity,” says Teresa Lesiuk, director and associate professor of music therapy at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music.

At its most basic, music improves productivity because it makes people happy.
Lesiuk headed a study published in the Psychology of Music journal that looked at the effect of music on the work quality and performance of software designers at four different Canadian companies over five weeks.

“It did show music increases positive affect – it improves mood – and decreases negative state, and showed that computer information-systems developers reported doing better with their work,” Lesiuk says. “They saw themselves as being more creative.”

Quality of work was lowest with no music, while tasks took longer when music was removed.
Those who were moderately skilled at their jobs benefited the most.

Lesiuk’s other research includes a similar study she conducted later, this time with people all around the world who self-rated their productivity. The effect of listening to music was found to once again be beneficial, especially among women.

Genre didn’t seem to make a difference, whether workers were listening to Russian pop or rock music.

“They got to choose their music, and if you’re choosing music you prefer it makes sense it would have a positive effect on your mood,” Lesiuk says. “Preferences were very different. One liked heavy metal in the morning but classical in the afternoon.”

Board certified music therapist Kimberly Sena Moore, who’s a professor in the Frost School of Music, says that if you need to focus on a cognitive task—you’re studying or need to write a proposal—you’re going to want instrumental music.

“You’re going to want to have music that has no lyrics, or words you don’t understand, in another language,” Sena Moore says. “As soon as you incorporate that, your brain processes that differently. You activate language centres in your brain, which interferes with any other language tasks you may need to work on.”

Tempo can have an impact on productivity, too.

“If you need to motivate yourself you’re probably going to pick music that has a faster tempo or a rhythmic structure you really like,” Sena Moore says.

Generally speaking, faster music helps us feel more energized and heightens our awareness, while slower music helps us feel more calm and relaxed, Sena Moore says. If you work better in a more energized state, have music playing that’s faster, but it you prefer to be in a zenlike state, listen to music that’s on the slower side.

Listening to music at work does have a downside, however: the potential for annoying your colleagues.

“If the manager doesn’t want the person listening to music, it creates conflict and that’s not helpful for communications or relations,” Lesiuk says. “It should be amenable to management and you need to be considerate to other workers who don’t want to hear it. If it bleeds into another person’s audio space it might be a problem. Not being forced to hear music is very important.”

In that case, pull out the headphones instead of cranking your computer speakers for everyone on your floor to hear your playlist.

Another cool aspect of listening to music at work is the “democratization of the workplace”, Lesiuk says.

Studies are looking at what happens when people in an office vote or agree on what to listen to as a group. That kind of exercise could help bring colleagues together.