by Emily Hall

Created on: January 26, 2009

Before you know whether listening to music at work is calming or distracting, you must first consider all the factors. Firstly, what kind of work do you do? For artists, for example, listening to music at work can be a vital part of their practice and can inspire them to create better, new work. Some even incorporate the music into their art in the form of a sound installation. If your job involves typing, gentle classical music, such as Mozart, has been found to relax people and even out their internal rhythms. Regular, predictable music like this can help you find your rhythm when typing and can lull you into a semi - meditative state, making the time pass quicker and making you more efficient and less stressed.

However, we have not yet considered which music you are likely to listen to at work. Lets' say you have an office job of some kind, so you would have to wear headphones so as not to disturb other people working in the vicinity. You already, therefore, have shut part of yourself off from the rest of the world - by covering your ears you are sending a clear 'do not disturb' signal to co-workers. You have become, to some degree, insular. Now think about what's on your iPod or MP3 player. Most small, affordable versions of this technology can hold about 500 songs. Think about what's actually on yours. Is there any Mozart? Statistically speaking, comparing the amount of people in the world who listen to Mozart with the number of people who own personal audio devices, it's unlikely. If there isn't, is there any calming music at all on there? Is there anything classical, or anything with a slow, regular pulse? Crucially, if there is, are you going to listen to it? Once I am in that insular world of the headphones, I find it virtually impossible to control myself and choose music I should be listening to rather than music I want to listen to. If I have a temping job where I'm allowed headphones, I slip off into the world of Balinese gamelan or Ghanaian drum music and am lost to the world for the next three hours. Typing can go hang.

There are other jobs, though, where this ability to slip away can be an efficient way of increasing productivity. Typing, especially if, like me, you are not all that proficient, requires too much concentration to be able to do it without thinking. But if you are a cleaner, a factory worker, someone with a repetitive physical job, being able to slip away into your own world is an invaluable skill. Your favourite music is immensely

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