Use the Productivity Song to Train Your Brain to Work
Anyone who has ever seen a film cut knows the importance of a motivating soundtrack. We may not have a professional editor to put together footage of us training for a boxing match or preparing for the bar exam, but we can choose our own music to increase our productivity.
There is a lot of it out there on how and why listening to certain types of music gives you extra work, but I’ve taken things one step further and trained my brain to associate certain music with work times. Technically, I didn’t do this on purpose initially, but it worked, so I’ll continue.
It was 1996 or 1997 and I was looking through the discounted CD cart in my local Books for half price. I came across a CD with a $ 1 baroque compilation of classical music and decided to invest. I’m not sure what caused the purchase, but I started playing the CD whenever I studied or wrote an article. He came to college with me and served the same function.
One day there was a commercial of one of these baroque songs and I immediately started thinking about what I needed to do and how I was going to do it. I realized that I accidentally trained my brain to switch to working mode after hearing this genre of classical music, which made me Pavlov and his dog in this scenario at the same time.
I did it again, albeit more on purpose, when I was working on my doctoral dissertation. My funding was only three years old, so to complete that period I needed to make the most of every minute. The baroque compilation – now in playlist format – still worked to some extent, but I wanted something that moved a little faster. I tried several other musical variations before rediscovering George Gershwin’s 1928 jazz / orchestral pieceAn American in Paris — it was the perfect combination of urgency and focus. Other Gershwin arrangements worked as well, and to this day Gershwin remains my favorite music for productive work.
Why it works
This isn’t just what worked for me – there is a wealth of scientific evidence to support this practice. First, listening to music can help reduce stress , tension, and anxiety. This in itself is a great end result, but since we tend to be more productive when we are less stressed , it can also help us get more done.
Plus, there’s a lot to be said for sticking to familiar music. According to a 2011 study , certain areas of our brain that process emotions and allow us to focus are more active when we listen to music we already know and love. In fact, in her 2013 book On Repeat: How Music Plays on the Mind , psychologist Elisabeth Helmut Margulis makes the case for listening to the same song over and over again, in a way that will improve your focus and keep your mind from wandering.
And it turned out that the original choice of baroque music was successful: a 2009 study showed that radiologists listening to baroque music experienced improved mood and productivity, and made more effective and accurate diagnoses.
How to find your own productivity song
If you are looking for a song or genre to be productive, the process is pretty straightforward. First, buy music that motivates you to get the job done without distracting you. Once you’ve chosen a song or genre, listen to it whenever you’re in “work mode,” whether it’s paying bills, paying taxes, or making a to-do list. Make sure this music is available on your phone or computer – ideally downloaded, not streamed, so you don’t need to be somewhere with internet access to use it. Then put it on when you need to be productive and go into “work mode”.