One day in high school, I walked into my classroom the day of a test and noticed music playing. It was very unusual, especially in a class setting. I was a bit worried because I thought that I would get very distracted from it. Turns out, I hardly noticed it while taking the exam and I ended up receiving a good grade.
Whether it’s upbeat tunes or classical music, many people listen to their own style of music while doing daily errands. If you’re one of the ones that don’t, I would suggest adding music into your daily routine because studies show that listening to music may increase your productivity.
Teresa Lesiuk studied the outcome of work performance while listening to music and discovered that music stimulates a positive attitude along with a more efficient working style.
In the first week of the study, the volunteers listened to music as much as they would have on any given day. Within the next couple weeks, the participants were given a number of CD’s to listen to, ranging in all kinds of music genres and were instructed to listen to the music. In the fourth week, they were not allowed to listen to music. In the fifth week, the music was given back to the participants and then they were given questionnaires to answer.
The results of the experiment displayed that, in the absence of music, people actually spent a longer time doing their work, and the quality of the work was comparably low. However, the individuals who listened to music completed their tasks more quickly and efficiently.
I believe this study was very well conducted and was consistent with the hypothesis; however, I think the participants should have been more diverse. To elaborate, the volunteers consisted of 41 male and 15 female computer information systems developers. Their aged ranged from 19-55, and they were from four different corporations in two different cities in Canada. Thus, I believe that the way the experiment was conducted was very efficient; but, there was hardly any diversity within the participants, so it’s hard to say if this study is a good representation of the public as a whole.
So, if you’re not one who usually listens to music while they work, try it! It may help you become more of a productive student.
http://pom.sagepub.com/content/33/2/173.full.pdf
http://blog.todoist.com/2013/06/25/how-music-affects-productivity/
I posted a blog this period about what is scientifically the most soothing song ever. Crafted by Spanish band Marconi Union and a group of scientists, they had some observational studies that proved it was more calming than any other song. Here’s “Weightless” by Marconi Union: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CySNhHVAokQ
Abigail,
Thank you for posting this article to my blog. It was very interested to read. The fact that listening to music can help you go to sleep is fascinating. This article also supports my post as it says music can “improve cognitive performance. Background music may enhance performance on cognitive tasks.” It also says that test takers could answer questions correctly and quickly when there was music in the background, which also supports my blog post. Also, after reading the article you posted, I now think that music improves your quality and productivity of work only if music truly enhances a your emotional state.
This blog post was extremely enjoyable to read! I absolutely love music, and I find it difficult to be productive without it. Although it is clear that music can increase productivity, there are countless other benefits of music. I found this article to be highly interesting: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2013/12/17/health-benefits-music/4053401/