Productivity Playlist for the Workplace

Today's workplaces are full of distractions. From pinging computers to casual conversations, disruptions are an everyday part of our offices, making concentration difficult. This leads to a decrease in productivity. But did you know that music can be amazing for dealing with these everyday distractions?

Music has the power not just to affect our emotions but also to work. In fact, putting on our headphones and playing some soothing music can work wonders in helping us focus and boosting our productivity levels. Thus, creating a productivity playlist can serve as the key to continued focus and efficiency. Let us see how.

What is a Productivity Playlist?

The concept of a productivity playlist is pretty much clear from its name. A productivity playlist is a compilation of music tracks that can uplift spirits and boost productivity.

However, the type of productivity playlist can vary from person to person. Whereas I might prefer listening to rock music when I want to concentrate, my colleague might be more into jazz.

But the real question is, does music have the capacity to affect our work patterns? Are those beats pumping out of our headphones impactful enough to make us focus more?

As per research, music makes people finish their tasks quickly and efficiently.

Thus, the main goal of a good playlist is to keep you grooving and positively engaged in your work. Whatever may be your choice of music, a good productivity playlist will help you avoid distractions, boost motivation, and keep your work momentum going.

Benefits of a Productivity Playlist

Listening to music has a whole lot of benefits already. And listening to music at work can help reduce workplace stress, improve heart health, boost mood, and more. So when we talk about music and productivity, both go hand in hand.

1. Relieves you from those background noise

Be it work or studying, losing focus is a part of life. It becomes very challenging to control yourself from being distracted, especially when you have people around gossiping about that upcoming movie or that new mall in town. And once you become involved in such discussions, it is inevitable that your work will be delayed.

So, instead of being a part of that gossip circle, you can plug in your earphones, tune in to your favorite playlist, and calmly complete all your tasks one by one. That way, the background noise is drowned, and your workflow doesn't get disrupted.

2. Staves off the physical and mental fatigue

A study published in Frontiers in Psychology stated that high-tempo music has a psychophysiological effect on endurance exercise. This implies that listening to high-tempo music while working out can ward off fatigue easily.

Because music improves mood by releasing happy hormones, you have more energy and focus during your workout, leaving no room for fatigue. Thus, if music can have lasting effects on a person’s mind resulting in good concentration, there is no reason to believe it will not have a lasting impact on a person’s productivity at work.

3. Allows you to have fun

With your favorite playlist, the entire work session will be enjoyable. However hectic your day is, you will still have fun working with your favorite tracks playing in the background.

Your mind will be stimulated enough to give it your all and be prepared to tackle even the most difficult of tasks. With the right playlist that matches your musical taste and tempo— whether country or hip hop— you will find it easier to avoid the temptations of procrastination.

4. Affects the ability to reason

A productivity playlist can greatly impact reasoning as it pushes the neurons towards creative solutions against obstacles hindering progress of long-term tasks. These blockages are removed with a focused musical playlist. As Mozart believed, there was a relationship between listening to different music and enhanced cognitive ability, which further boosts problem-solving and concentration levels.

List of Songs

Depending on your taste, a productivity playlist can include songs of every genre. If you are into classical music, you might find that Mozart hits the sweet spot when it comes to concentration. Most importantly, you have to know what type of music keeps you focused and what distracts you.

Here’s a list of ten songs belonging to every genre that you can add to your playlist. Let’s have a look at them.

1. In Motion

 Artist: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
 Album: The Social Network

2. Canon in D

 Artist: Johann Pachelbel

3. Symphony n. 35

 Artist: Mozart

4. Aquarium

 Artist: Nosaj Thing
 Album: Views/ Octopus EP

5. Arrival of the Birds

Artist: Jacob’s piano

6. Livin’ on a Prayer

Artist: Bon Jovi
Album: Slippery when Wet

7. Eye of the Tiger

 Artist: Survivor
 Album: Eye of the tiger

8. Highway to Hell

 Artist: AC/DC
 Album: Highway to Hell

9. Unstoppable

 Artist: Sia
 Album: This Is Acting

10. Shot me Down

 Artist: David Guetta, Ft. Skylar Grey

How to create a Productivity Playlist?

If you scour the internet, you will find hundreds of songs that will motivate you to focus and work hard. Now, the question is, how to choose the perfect soundtracks for yourself? One important thing to remember is that the list of songs must be shortlisted based on the tasks at hand while keeping your musical preferences intact.

1. Take the kind of Task into Consideration

Creating a random playlist will not help at all times. So what you need to do is see what kind of task is pending, check your time tracking spreadsheet, and accordingly, you can make your playlist. Like if you have to work on heavy content, going for instrumental will be a smart choice, for there are no lyrics to distract you. Similarly, if you have to work on some paperwork, motivating songs can keep your focus intact.

2. Choose the Songs you Like

Try not to compromise on your desired songs while looking for motivation. A playlist full of highly motivating songs will not be useful if you find them irritating. Whereas if you create a playlist that appeals to your taste, it will help you have fun while boosting the quality of your work.

3. Align your Pace

People have the tendency to adjust their work pace to the music rhythm playing in the background. So choose songs that can align with your normal work pace. For example, while LoFi music can slow you down, too much high-powered music can raise your heart rate and cause anxiety.

4. Begin with Bass

Start your playlist with certain tracks having a strong baseline to get your adrenaline pumping. Later on, you can switch to a more soothing bass to keep the balance.

5. Keep a Reasonable Volume

While a piece of music can be quite inspiring, it tends to interrupt your concentration after reaching a certain decibel level. So try to keep the volume low enough to focus and not lose track of your tasks. Oftentimes, when the music is too loud, we become more engrossed in the music instead of our work.

Wrap up

Finding the perfect productivity playlist is tough. But once you create it, you can bid farewell to procrastination. Several platforms, such as Spotify, now use sophisticated algorithms to create playlists tailored to your preferences. So, the next time you're tempted to procrastinate, put on your favorite song and start ticking off your to-do list.

This article is written by Dipshi Bhattacharjee. Besides working as a Content Writer at Vantage Circle, she is an animal lover with a huge fascination for Cinema, Television & Foreign languages. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com