🎧 The Impact of Sound on Productivity: How to Stay Focused in a Noisy World
As we go about our daily lives, our brains are constantly processing an endless barrage of noises. From the music coming from our roommate's bedroom to early morning construction workers to the office microwave during lunchtime, we are bombarded with sounds that can affect our mood and productivity. One type of noise that has proven to be our brain's biggest challenger is intermittent speech and the sounds of other conversations. In this article, we'll explore the impact of sound on productivity and provide tips on how to stay focused in a noisy world.
🎶 The Power of Music
We all know how different sounds affect our moods. Depressing music makes us sad, while upbeat music gives us energy. But what about the sounds we hear at work? Are there sounds we can count on to increase productivity? Do all those focus playlists actually help us tune out distractions?
The answer depends on three factors: the type of work, the type of noise, and the type of person. If your job requires more cognitive tasks, such as reading and information retention, writing, or working through math problems, researchers have found that silence is almost always the best way to go. The name of the game isn't to find what sounds boost your cognitive performance; it's to avoid the ones with the worst impact on your performance. And by far, the biggest performance killer is intermittent speech.
🗣️ The Distracting Power of Intermittent Speech
Intermittent speech is when we overhear conversations and short snippets, like people walking and talking in and out of conference rooms all day or when we only hear one side of a conversation, like someone on a phone call. The most distracting sounds of all, though, are the sounds which we're programmed to pay attention to. Number one on that list is conversation. We're programmed to decode language; it's absolutely in our genes. The debilitating effect of intermittent speech on cognitive productivity plays on our brain's natural drive to filling gaps of information.
Psychologists have found that it's actually easier to ignore a conversation when you can hear both speakers for an extended period. But when you only hear one side of a phone conversation, what they dubbed a "halfalog," the studies show that performance went down. They concluded that our brains are wired to seek out missing information, and so we eagerly anticipate the arrival of that information, even if it causes us to get distracted and miss a work deadline.
Intermittent speech happens to be the most common noise in open office environments, and now that some 80% of offices have them, the risk of attention interception is even higher. This could explain why a massive study out of Stanford found productivity shot up 13% among remote workers who aren't distracted by the slices of conversation they overhear from co-workers throughout the day.
🤔 What About Music?
Music is an interesting one. With an infinite range of songs and genres to choose from, it's hard to imagine there aren't a few differences in how they affect productivity. If you're doing focused brain work, such as studying, writing, or reading a report, the music can distract you from that and not elevate your attentional set in a productive or helpful way. Typically, music with lyrics or music that you're really into is not going to help you focus. There have been hundreds of studies of college students studying to music, and overwhelmingly, the evidence is that studying with music is bad in almost every case.
Ultimately, experts still say silence is the way to go if we want to get through those comprehensive cognitive tasks. There are a litany of studies to back that up. But what about those skilled workers whose jobs require more repetitive tasks, like driving a delivery truck across the country or performing quality checks in a car factory? Does music have the same effect on those jobs?
If you're doing something monotonous and repetitive, say you're driving a truck on the interstate, you need to keep your arousal level up, or you're going to doze off. So there, music or an audiobook or sound can be helpful because it's stimulating. It's getting your neurons active and firing. And neurosurgeons are almost always playing music. What truck drivers and brain surgeons have in common is repetitiveness. Great, so brain surgeons and truck drivers, feel free to pump up the volume. But the rest of us are in a bit of a bind.
🤫 How to Stay Focused in a Noisy World
Today's workspaces are noisy and distracting, so what can you do to boost your productivity? If you are stuck in an environment that's noisy and distracting, then I have a little acronym which may help you. It's MB, not a university degree, a simple process. The M stands for moves. A lot of companies are getting wise to the fact that they need to create different environments for different kinds of working. So perhaps there's somewhere quieter you could go. If you can't move, then the B stands for block. Put headphones on to block the sound out from around you. If you put music on those headphones, then you're replacing one distraction with another to a degree. Great sounds to put into headphones would be biophilic sound, like bird song, for example, a nature's alarm clock. And if you can't block, you can't move, the only thing you can do is the A, accept. Instead of getting angry and resentful, take a deep breath, say, "Well, this is where I am. I can only do my best, so I'm just gonna get on with it." And that improves your productivity dramatically compared to sitting there fuming.
🌟 Highlights
- Silence is almost always the best way to go if your job requires more cognitive tasks.
- Intermittent speech is the most distracting sound in open office environments.
- Music with lyrics or music that you're really into is not going to help you focus.
- If you're doing something monotonous and repetitive, music or an audiobook or sound can be helpful because it's stimulating.
- To stay focused in a noisy world, try the MB process: move, block, or accept.
❓ FAQ
Q: Does listening to music help with productivity?
A: It depends on the type of work you're doing. If your job requires more cognitive tasks, silence is almost always the best way to go. But if you're doing something monotonous and repetitive, music or an audiobook or sound can be helpful because it's stimulating.
Q: What is intermittent speech?
A: Intermittent speech is when we overhear conversations and short snippets, like people walking and talking in and out of conference rooms all day or when we only hear one side of a conversation, like someone on a phone call.
Q: How can I stay focused in a noisy environment?
A: Try the MB process: move, block, or accept. If you can't move to a quieter environment, put on headphones to block out the sound. If you put music on those headphones, choose biophilic sounds like bird song. And if you can't block or move, accept the situation and focus on doing your best.
