Listening to music is a great way to exercise your brain and get rid of mental sloth. When your mind cannot focus on a particular task, cue up your favorite song to stimulate your brain.
Research shows that music can help boost performance on cognitive tasks and alleviate feelings of anxiety and stress. However, music does not affect everyone’s brain in the same way. Some people have reported a decrease in their productivity after listening to fast music or music they don’t enjoy.
Therefore, the impact of music on your productivity has more to do with your dopamine levels than the music itself. Here are a few things you should know if you want to use music to boost your productivity:
1. The effect of music on your productivity depends on your personality type.
Introverted people find background music disturbing and are unable to focus with music running in the back. Extroverts, on the other hand, are usually used to environmental noises and are therefore under-stimulated with background music. Research shows that people’s extraversion scores determine how they deal with sensory deprivation.
Background music can shift the focus of an introverted individual and impair their performance. The mind of an extroverted individual, on the other hand, can dampen the background music and stay focused on the task at hand.
Similarly, creative minds tend to be under-stimulated by background music. This is because creative individuals are used to letting their minds wander between tasks.
2. Your desire to feel a certain way influences your choice of music.
Listening to the music of your choice stimulates the release of dopamine in the brain which enhances your mood. Research shows that a good mood positively influences an individual’s performance and productivity.
Playing music that matches your natural personality can inspire you and improve your emotional state. Extroverts, for example, usually prefer upbeat and cheerful songs. Intellectual individuals are able to focus better with classical and jazz. Rebellious people tend to listen to hip-hop or heavy metal. Gamers prefer J-pop and synthwave while playing at netbet.it.
3. The performance-enhancing effects of music largely depend on task complexity.
While doing tasks that you are skilled at, background music can help you perform better. This is because you are more or less in autopilot mode while performing these tasks. However, if you are doing something that you don’t have a lot of experience with, you may find background music disruptive.
Similarly, if you are doing something boring or extremely easy, background music can provide extra stimulation to your brain to help you perform better. An old psychological principle emphasizes states that humans perform better with an intermediate level of brain stimulation.
When your brain is under-stimulated, you lack mental alertness and are unable to focus on the task at hand. Similarly, an over-stimulated or anxious mind is unable to focus on one thing which also hampers performance.
4. Background music can counteract other distractions when played without lyrics.
Noise-canceling headphones can be extremely helpful when you’re working in a noisy office or restaurant. Music can help counteract disruptive noises in the background and help increase your focus. Background music becomes even more beneficial when played without lyrics as verbal information can steer away your thoughts from the task at hand.