Whistle While You Work

We see more people than not these days with white cords dangling from their ears like spaghetti. We love our music, don't we? We dance to it. We sing along with it. We eat our meals accompanied by it. We drive to work with it. We study with it. We shop with it bombarding us. We revel in it with our favourite TV show or movie. We are distracted, calmed, angered, energized or relaxed by it. Music is everywhere.

Including where we work. Like the wonderful dwarves form Disney's Snow White advise - work is a lot easier when you can whistle or sing or listen. The result is increased productivity. Or at least it used to be.

Singing while you work, especially at physical labour, does indeed make the job easier. This knowledge goes back thousands of years when there was a special place in a boat or ship for the drummer to keep the rowers in rhythm. Otherwise you end up with a pile of broken oars.

Recently, neuroscientists have found that your auditory system connects directly to the part of your brain responsible for movement. That's why most of us can't sit still when listening to lively, rhythmic music. It's like a direct line from your ears to your feet or hands. Your muscles respond to rhythm and your mood responds to pitch and melody.

That's why it is always easier to do rhythmic physical labour to a beat of a song. Work songs have been a part of human culture for thousands of years. Productivity to a beat. There are over ten thousand documented work songs in Canada alone. Hammering, spinning, digging, rowing, marching are more tolerable to a beat. Interestingly, humans are the only species that can synchronize to a beat.

Neuroscientists have also discovered that the hormone oxytocin is released when people sing or play music together. Oxytocin is the 'feel good' bonding hormone.

However, fast-forward to the 20th and 21st centuries and much of the work scene has changed. Many people are sitting in offices and using their brains more than their bodies. Music is very much around, but it has a different role. And it can either enhance or inhibit productivity.

Now we have Muzak and background music. During World War II, some factories found that they could increase productivity by 3 to 4% with the appropriate background music. Inappropriate music or sounds in a retail environment can lower sales as much as 28%. Grocery stores with slower paced background music have shown an increase in sales as much as 40%.

Here is a real kicker for those who work in a noisy office - often the kind with lots of cubicles. Productivity in such an environment can be as much as 66% lower than working in a quiet office. 66%!

That means that working in a quiet space can triple your productivity! Think of what that would do for the bottom line of a business. Not to mention your frustration level with distractions.

Depending on the nature of the work, a noisy working space can be a serious problem or a great opportunity. If you are distracted by noise in a busy office, try slipping on some headphones and listening to some bird song or soothing music and see if that helps you focus more.