The best music to help you focus, according to science
Getting into the grind for work or studying can admittedly be a thankless task for anyone. With the seemingly never-ending bleakness of winter also not helping that situation, it’s easy to get bogged down in a pit of despair and demotivation, hoping that something, just anything, might pull you out of it. We’re all also guilty of getting distracted by literally everything around us – from phones to friends to watching the world pass by outside the window. Suddenly, our mind is on another planet, and focus is nowhere to be found.
But when the pile of tasks is only getting higher and higher, what’s the solution to getting ourselves back on track? Like everything in life, of course, music is the answer.
Trail through your streaming platform of choice, and no doubt, you’ll find hundreds of playlists of tunes that will help you focus. Stick one on, get your head down… and you still find your mind wandering just as much as before. Why?
The common theme of these popular work or focus playlists is to eliminate racing thoughts in your brain by removing the potential distraction of lyrics. That’s why you’ll often find they’re dominated by classical pieces, white noise, or lo-fi beats. If that works for you, congratulations. You clearly have superior brainpower to the rest of us. But if you find this kind of music more of a hindrance than a help, fear not, because you are not alone and, according to science, they’re not actually the best type of tunes to focus your mind.
In truth, your favourite artists can come in handy not just to entertain you but also to make you a productive powerhouse. Whether you’re a fan of rock, pop, folk, or rap, try making up a playlist of only the songs you’re most attuned to and see if it helps you focus any better. According to a study by neuroscientists at Harvard University, this can be the key to locking your brain into work mode as you’re already so familiar with the tunes that it energises you into a better-focused rhythm.
What is the best music to help you focus?
Scientists claim that listening to familiar music activates many of the centres in your brain responsible for movement, and as such, the focus allows you to exert engagement with your whole body. On top of that, listening to songs you enjoy, no matter the genre, decreases levels of stress and cortisol, so your mind’s attention span is able to function without being disturbed by sudden annoyances.
Generally, the consensus is that you should just listen to whatever works for you, which, if you pardon the pun, should be music to your ears. But if you’re really one for following the rules, the scientists do have some advice for which type of song is possibly the most effective. They say that tunes with a soft melody but fast tempo can be the most conducive to productivity, whereas loud and fast songs could potentially let your brain trail off elsewhere.
However, the next time someone tells you to stop singing along to your favourite songs and get back to work, you can take pleasure in telling them that you’re actually using scientific evidence to fuel your work ethic. It might not make you the most popular in the office, but definitely the most productive.
