How to Create the Perfect Playlist for Your Productivity
Nothing will affect my working day like forgetting my headphones. Like most people, music is a huge part of my life. I listen to the most music while I work, browsing playlists, in what seems like an endless search for the perfect tunes to help me stay in the right zone.
This post originally appeared on the Crew blog .
We spend so many days at work and so many working days in front of the screen that music has become indispensable for our happiness, motivation, and productivity.
But are all songs made the same? Or are there ideal tracks for specific tasks?
Why we are addicted to music
I’m sure you don’t need a scientist to tell you how music can help you during your workday.
We turn to our favorite songs during difficult times: when we are feeling overwhelmed and in need of refreshment, or when we are happy and want the flow to continue.
As neuroscientist and musician Jamshed Bharucha discovered, there is something primal about why we love music. Bharucha found that creative areas like music allow people to sync up , helping us develop a group identity and increasing the likelihood of working together.
A recent study of preschoolers has supported this idea . In the study, the children were paired up with two, telling one group to sing a song together, while the rest were just walking (or crawling) together. The couples were then given test tubes filled with balls that were to be emptied when the children started playing with them.
By studying couples’ behavior, the researchers found that children who sang together were more willing to help remove the marble, and concluded that music may have evolved as a way of fostering a sense of community and developing immediate empathy.
But our love of music is not only about culture. When you listen to your favorite tracks, a part of your brain called the nucleus accumbens is activated, triggering the release of dopamine, the “chemical of motivation and pleasure,” that lives in a group of neurons in your brain called the ventral tegmental region.
Dopamine is the same chemical that is released when you eat your favorite food or when you get a new Twitter follower, making you want more (and more, and more).
However, just like after your first 100 or so followers (or your 1000th pizza), there is a law of diminishing returns. The first time you hear a new song that you like, more dopamine is released and you feel more thrilled than listening to one of your old favorite songs.
So does music really help us work?
Music has a strong relationship to our basic needs to communicate with other people, but how does this affect our everyday life?
A study published in the Journal of Music Therapy found that listening to your favorite music lowers your perception of tension , making you happier and more productive in stressful situations (like at work).
But beyond just “listening to the music you like,” there are some golden rules to choosing the perfect song for the job you do.
1. For simple tasks, select the music you’ve heard before.
A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience of Behavior and Physiology found thata person’s ability to recognize images, letters and numbers was faster when rock or classical music was played in the background, compared to when there was no music.
Similarly, another study found that assembly line workers were happier, more efficient, and made fewer mistakes when listening to music .
Other researchers have documented that performance improves when listening to music when the task is perceived as “simple” or monotonous, such as answering an email or copying data to a file.
When it comes to repetitive or boring tasks, while you are listening to something, you will complete them faster.
2. Get rid of words while learning
For more exciting and mentally challenging tasks, classical or instrumental music has been shown to improve mental performance more than music with lyrics.
If the task is especially difficult, it is best to get rid of all external stimuli (including music). Even weak musical chords played in the background can cause cognitive hindrances – when your performance drops because your brain has to allocate resources to help you cope with both the task and the music.
3. Play to your favorite music while you work
The magic of music comes out most when you are an expert in what you do. Even if it is something as difficult as an operation.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that surgeons performed more accurately when music they liked was played in the background .
But you don’t have to be a medical professional to taste good jams. Bestselling author Stephen King jams with Metallica and Anthrax while writing.
4. Find a sweet spot in your creative work.
Research shows that songs with a tempo of 50-80 bpm are best .
Dr. Emma Gray of British Counseling and Counseling Services worked with Spotify to research the benefits of certain types of music. Gray’s research has shown that musical tempo in the 50-80 bpm range can help induce an alpha state in your brain. Your mind becomes calm, alert, and concentration increases.
Alpha waves are also associated with the “eureka moment” – a flash of unique insight that is triggered when you enter a relaxed but focused state of mind. In his findings, Gray notes that it is not the musical genre but the tempo that is most directly related to the creation of the state of flow.
To summarize, take a look at the graph above to see what kind of music to listen to depending on what task you are doing.