Does your workplace allow you to plug in your earphones? If not here's what you cannot miss knowing.
Music and us
Music has always been known to soothe our body, mind and soul even in the most stressful situations. As we struggle to maintain a work-life balance every day, it can become hard to find that perfect equilibrium. It is important to find out something that gives us some relief and helps us focus.
While some employers feel it is okay for the employees to indulge in music along with work, most of us are not so lucky.
“The good thing about music is that when it hits you, you feel no pain.” – Bob Marley, the one who needs no introduction.
Is it recommended to listen to music at work?
The history of music at work goes way back to the early 20th century when factories started playing recorded music to kill boredom and enhance productivity. While the researchers are mostly divided in opinion on this question, most music lovers say that they find it easier to work after putting their earphones on.
Let’s find if it really helps us during our work hours.
- Helps in Concentration
How many times have we wished that we can tune out the annoying co-workers and just focus on work? Well, music is probably our only chance to do that. Putting on headphones is like putting up “Do not disturb” boards (Big LOL, but, totally true). It is capable of suppressing the surrounding distractions and helps you in focusing. With the advancement in the field of technology, noise cancellation headsets can be your best partner.
- Relaxes your mind
It is no news that music is an excellent stress reliever. Not only it can help you in diminishing the negative emotions arising from stress, it can also give you a small mental break from monotonous work. That calls for a huge YES for music at work!
- Ramps up your creative brain cells
Which side of your brain do you need for your work? If it’s the creative right side, then grab on to those headphones ASAP. Well, while it will not GIVE you ideas, your favourite music is capable of helping you in improvising and building on the thoughts. Though different music has different effects on our mind, generally soft and soothing music is known to boost up this process.
- Increases productivity
This actually is the result of the above points. With better concentration, it is obvious that we can become more productive. Additionally, a relaxed mind will do more than a stressed one. Your favourite go-to song(s) can set the mood right and get you “in the zone”. It creates an illusion of content and satisfaction, which is a big positive for those long stressful hours.
- Helps you move
Due to our hectic schedule, we hardly find time to get up from our workstations. It is a sad reality, but yes, it is the reality. So how can music help in this situation? Once in a while if we switch over to fast rhythmic music, it can excite us for a while. This may help us in being more active (mentally and physically) than we usually are.
How to choose the right music for work?
There is no right music. Thanks to our individuality, our minds are designed to fall in love with different types or genres of music. Music also triggers certain memories specific to it. So find music that takes your mind off stress and not work. Here, as responsible working adults, we need to find the right balance between focusing and being distracted from work by our favourite playlist. So, plug those earphones in your phones and plug out the world.