Sound Psychology: Hacking Music for Optimal Performance

When it comes to tools for the workplace, you have your mouse, keyboard, chair, and monitors. Now whether you have your own office, share a common workspace, reside in coffeeshops, or work from home, you almost always need one more thing – music. Countless studies have been done to connect music to increased concentration, reduced stress, and improved mood.

But which music should you select for different tasks?

Everyone has their own taste in music. However, this blog will provide you with some ideas and hacks to optimize what you are listening to throughout the day. Certain types of music might serve you better when you are doing one activity versus another. Hopefully this will provide you with ideas to spice up your playlists while simultaneously improving your workflow.

Deep Work

A typical day requires typical project work, for which you might want to pick your favorite tunes. When you are working on a project, the hours you need to put towards it may be daunting, so picking music that you enjoy listening to can speed up time and keep you energized. Building a lengthy playlist ahead of time will remove the distractions of picking a song each time one ends. Suggestions for this type of activity include Today’s Hits, Classic Rock, Show Tunes, or Pop, which all have fast beats and strong lyrics; just try not to sing along too loudly if you are in the office. Whether you are working in consulting or studying for school, music can motivate you and increase your level of focus. Playlists can be found on Spotify or Pandora.

Alternatively, if you need something softer and less distracting try Low-Fi beats or Jazz.  These have benefits verging on sound therapy. Often there are entire Youtube videos with long runtimes and lighter music that are dedicated to study music. These can help keep you focused on the task at hand, while providing a light stimulating beat.  Other excellent music choices for this purpose include Baroque music or any music by Ludovico Einaudi.

Reading

Whether you need to review hundreds of slides, pour through multiple articles, or annotate a textbook, reading requires different music. One of the biggest issues when you are reading is listening to music with lyrics, which can cause confusion and decreased comprehension. As a result, reading is a lot easier to do while listening to instrumental music; classical music has actually been proven to boost concentration.

One common problem with classical music, however, is it could lull you to sleep. An alternative is listening to either movie soundtracks or video game music. Whether you enjoy orchestral Super Mario Galaxy or prefer the faster pace of Sonic the Hedgehog, video games offer you a wide range of options. Oddly enough this recommendation was borrowed from a study hack shared on TikTok. Both movies and video games offer instrumental options, but often also have faster beats and higher energy tracks which can keep you awake while reading.

Motivation

Sometimes you need music to provide a little extra umph – a “kick in the butt”. This is important for activities such as working out in the gym, going on a long run, or holding a plank. This is when you choose the highest energy hit songs, intense EDM music, or funky remixes of your favorite tunes. Listening to music that gets you pumped can improve your workout, encouraging you to keep going when you want to give up most.

If you listen to free music, ads might not bother you. However, if you are serious about using music to boost your mood and performance then this is a case where shelling out a few extra dollars for Spotify Premium, YouTube Red, or Apple Music might be worth it; that way you can keep going song after song, without a vibe kill. Nothing is worse during the last 3 minutes of your run than hearing advertisements for a minute straight, right when you need the most motivation.

Relaxing

After a long day filled with deep work and reading, followed by a workout at the gym, next you need to unwind. To reduce stress, you need to find some relaxing music to kick back to while you cook, clean, and enjoy your evening. Think spa waterfall music, smooth jazz, acoustic covers, or slow R&B hits. Putting on some relaxing music while you spend time away from your work will allow you to boost your mental health, keep your stress levels in check, and promote increased well-being.

While it might seem easier to just throw on a TV show, listening to music forces you to avoid screen time, a refreshing change from how you probably spent much of your day. In addition, you can use this time away from your computer to multi-task around your apartment, house, or hotel room.

Sleeping

Finally – you made it to the end of the day. Now it is time for you to get some restful sleep for a new day tomorrow. Rather than falling asleep to television reruns, try setting your phone or favorite Google device to play nature sounds. Whether you prefer light rain, thunderstorms, bugs, or ocean waves, these sounds promote calmness and sleep. Alternatively, try listing to Buddhist chant, Gregorian chant, or music designed to resonate with delta brain waves that occur during deep sleep.

Final thoughts

Although the music you choose to listen to is your choice, it is good to be aware of how your music choices can affect your motivation, focus, mood, and mental state.

Try to optimize your music selection to match your present activity.

Ricky Hollenbach is a Thermal Sciences Associate at Exponent Scientific and Engineering Consulting. He solves problems in the thermal-fluids, heat transfer, and turbomachinery disciplines. He earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Duke University.

Image: Pixabay

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