By: Natasha Archary
With more companies adopting the open office concept, cramped working quarters and a noisy environment may make it difficult to concentrate during a regular nine to five. How do you get through mountains of to-do lists with numerous distractions around you?
One of the most effective methods for improved concentration is to listen to music while you work. This is true for students who need to cram before a final or the average keyboard slayer. Whether you choose light background music or to have your playlists blaring via headsets, music is said to have a profound effect on your brain’s ability to process information and concentrate.
The concept of listening to music whilst working may seem counter-productive. Would it not take twice as much effort to get a task complete when you have music to distract you? On the contrary, music activates both the left and right hemispheres of the brain at the same time, maximizing learning and improving memory.
According to Dr Masha Godkin, a Professor at North Central University, listening to music whilst working or studying can stimulate a person from the Beta brainwave state to a deeper Alpha and then Theta brainwave.
The brainwaves defined:
Beta brainwaves are engaged when the brain is aroused or processing activities such as: involved conversations with others, public speaking, leactures or complex problem solving and assessment of situations.
Alpha brainwaves on the other hand move towards deep relaxation, imagination and intuitive thinking.
Theta brainwaves are likened to states of daydreaming, accessing subconscious information that eludes the conscious mind and reductions in body rhythms such as heart rate and breathing.
Delta brainwaves can reveal a deep sleep or slow-wave background thinking. Delta waves indicate the lowest brain frequencies, possibly indicating subconscious thoughts and information. It is often related to extremely deep meditation and hyper-relaxed mind states.
However, this does depend on the type of music. Classical music is generally a genre that works best for concentration because there are no lyrics to distract.
Everyone’s taste in music is different however and some prefer to listen to electro, house, dub-step, jazz and more mainstream RnB, hip-hop and pop. The key is to choose something with an upbeat tempo that will keep you awake. Music has a profound effect on our mood, blood pressure and heart rate.
Perhaps the most famous theory linking music and cognitive performance is the ‘Mozart Effect.’ The concept that listening to Mozart makes you smarter. The study suggests that students who listen to a Mozart sonata for a few minutes before taking a test, performed better than students who took the test after listening to another musician or no music at all.
The ‘Mozart Effect’ became so popular that pregnant women were soon playing Mozart’s 1781 sonata – via headphones- to their swollen bellies. The study found that playing music to an unborn baby led to improved hearing and smarter babies.
Everywhere you look today, it seems more and more people are plugging in their headphones and listening to something. Whether to drown out the noise or to help draw inspiration, music is the popular option. There are some who, however, cannot relate, people who are bad at multi-tasking for example, tested worse when music played in the background.
This does not however negate music’s ability to help one focus, absorb and retain information. It comes down to a matter of personal preference and personality. There isn’t a precise doctrine that stipulates music is a surefire way to help you concentrate, stay focused and ensure you are more productive. It couldn’t hurt to try.
