All ears: sounds that help get the job done

By Jenna Shackelford, posted Apr 6, 2022 on BizFayetteville.com

Everybody works differently, and what’s a distraction to someone might be a motivator for another. But I’m a sucker for noise in the workplace.
Certain kinds of noise, that is. If I can sing along and know the words, I’m not getting any work done. Writing while listening to Taylor Swift? Not a good move. “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” recently won the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Award for Best Lyrics, but while the words sound poetic with a melody, a Freudian slip of the fingers while typing won’t make the song fit neatly into an article about banking and finance.
That being said, background noise can be beneficial when trying to knock out some tasks. Inc. had an interesting article on this in 2018 titled “3 Ways Listening to Music Actually Makes You More Productive.” Research shows, the author explained, that music can help writers get “in the zone,” can promote focus and positive behavior, and inspire problem-solving.
The caveats to these benefits, the author listed, are that the volume, music choice, and other factors like the quality of the recording, the tasks you’re doing, etc. can affect the tasks at hand.

There’s not one magical productivity song that works for everyone, no matter the task. I’ve got quite a lot of go-tos, as evidenced by the 11,927 minutes I spent in 2021 listening to Spotify last year, according to my Spotify Wrapped. I’ve pared down the list to share a few I enjoy. Give them a listen, if you’d like, or consider how different sounds and noises may boost your workflow.

Music
If I know one line, even just that one, I’ll listen until I know them all. I listen to a hodgepodge of artists and genres in my spare time, but while I’m working, I try to keep the list of music to songs that I don’t know the lyrics to and can’t or won’t easily learn them, or to songs that have very few lyrics.
SOME RECENT FAVORITES:
» “Meridian” by August Burns Red
» “Si jamais j'oublie” by Zaz
Audiobooks
Oftentimes, when I listen to books, I veer toward intricate storylines, comedy you get lost in, and historical accounts, so I normally listen to these if I’m doing tasks that are repetitive or don’t require deep concentration, like making graphics on canva, resizing images, or cleaning up Google Drive folders.
SOME RECENT FAVORITES:
» “The Guilty” by James Patterson
» “Who is Elmyr?” By Max Horberry
» “Interior Chinatown” by Charles Yu
» “Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?:
And Other Questions You Should Have
Answers to When You Work in the
White House” by Alyssa Mastromo naco
White noise

I have exactly one white noise video that helps me concentrate. I listen to it when I need to be 100 percent focused on a task, especially under a deadline. Spotify and Youtube offer an abundance of choices, but I have the same go-to every time. From a Youtube channel called “Relaxing White Noise,” my favorite option is "STUDY POWER | Focus, Increase Concentration, Calm Your Mind | White Noise For Homework & School.”

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