The Best Music to Listen to While Working from Home: How to Use Music for Productivity

Working from home can be a great way to become more free. But with all that freedom it can also be difficult to stay productive when there are so many distractions around you. That's where music comes in! Music has been shown to help people focus and become more productive. In this blog post, we will highlight the best types of music to listen to while working from home, and how you can use that music to improve your productivity. We'll also provide links to some playlists that you can access right now through Spotify that will help you concentrate on the task at hand!


The science on music and concentration

First, lets take a (very) brief look at the science on music and how it affects performance. It's been shown that music can have a positive effect on productivity in a number of different settings. For example, a study from 2019 by the University of Medical Sciences in Shiraz found that surgical teams performed better when listening to music during an operation. The study found that listening to music led to a more relaxing and nice environment. More impressively, it also led to more accurate and precise performance. The subjects also reported less mental overload and they decreased their completion time of tasks. Actually, over 90% of UK surgeons report listening to music while operating.

Now, you might not be a surgeon but you will still need to be able to concentrate while working remotely. This can be especially difficult in the digital age of streaming services and of course the alluring couch. Who says you can't nap during work?


What music works best?

It might come as no surprise that classical music has been found to be the best genre for decreasing mistakes, improving concentration and reducing stress. This is because classical music is typically slow and has a repetitive rhythm. This makes it easier for your brain to follow along and stay focused. Unfortunately, for you rock fans that want to try and increase how quickly you get things done, we have some bad news. Rock music has actually been found to increase task completion times. But, it can still make you happier during work.

Now you might not want to listen to Mozart or Beethoven all day but still want to enjoy some slower tempo music in order to become less stressed out, more focused and achieve higher performance. We got you covered.

Here are some contemporary genres that generally have slower tempos:



Not only music

Of course, there are other things that will affect your ability to concentrate when working from home. For example, the work area we choose and the amount of mobile notifications we receive. Actually, a new software update for iOS has a setting where you can choose to receive summaries of notifications at certain times per day so you won't be constantly interrupted. We recommend trying this along with some nice jazz tunes when beginning your work day.


The last song

Working from home has its benefits and drawbacks, but as shown, with the right music, you can actually increase your productivity. Certain genres of music, like classical, have been shown to help people focus and become more productive. Additionally, listening to slower-tempo music can help reduce stress levels and create a more relaxing environment. Why not try it out?



Finally, if you are looking to find some remote work, have a look at our jobs section!



‍Source: DOI 10.3233/WOR-192984 - The effects of playing music during surgery on the performance of the surgical team: A systematic review