The Benefits of Listening to Music While Working

Why is that?

Think about all the things that distract you. How long does it take for something you see, smell, taste, or feel to disrupt your focus? Sometimes, people need to have a huge flag waved in front of their face to get their attention. A bad smell often creeps up on you and rarely gets your attention immediately unless it’s something drastic. As for taste, how many times have we been distracted while eating something and taken a big bite, only to realize that we’re not eating what we initially thought. Even your sense of touch can take a while to catch up with your attention. Now, think of sporadic drops of water, or someone chewing noisily, or someone moving a pot that has dirt beneath it, or even someone dragging nails on a chalkboard; how do these audible tragedies make you feel? What about a loud bang? There’s a reason jump-scares are so effective in horror movies, and that’s because sound demands attention.

It’s no surprise alarms are so loud and heavy on the audio. It’s because we can tune out most other things, but an obnoxious, blaring horn will steal your attention every time. So, why not use the power of sound to your advantage? Look for music that motivates you, that helps you get those mundane chores done, that enables you to focus, and that you ultimately enjoy listening to. It takes a bit of experimentation, but I promise there’s at least one genre that will put you in zone. Exploration is everything. So, ask people what they like to listen to while working and feel free to add to your list. And most importantly, don’t forget to share your favorite work jams with others. You might just have the perfect track to help someone cut through their distractions and get the job done. To wrap things up, I might as well play it forward and share a few songs that help me flow.