Many of us spend the bulk of our working days listening to music, but which tunes we choose can make a big difference to our productivity.
The goal is to pick artists and genres that you don’t normally listen to, according to music service focus@will, a company that promises to enhance productivity through music choice.
“[I]f you like jazz, don’t listen to jazz while working, because, although that music will give you pleasure, it will also release dopamine in your brain, actually distracting you,” explains Melanie Pinola at Lifehacker.
The good news is that it doesn’t appear that we have to start listening to music we actively hate. (Raise your hand if you were waiting for the research that said constant irritation would make us produce results with the efficiency of robots. Extremely annoyed robots.)
The idea behind focus@will’s service is that “certain music tracks in specific sequences that are proven to soothe the limbic system (the fight or flight survival mechanism in the brain), which is in constant interrupt mode, so allowing you to concentrate more fully on what you are trying to do.”
So no need to start listening to country-western if you’re a top 40 person, or Abba’s greatest hits if you love heavy metal.
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