Is listening to music evidence that you’re just not concentrating? Or is it an essential to helping you concentrate? Does it distract? Or drown out other rival distractions?

The world needed an answer to these burning diplomatic issues. Thank goodness the good people at Toggl have helped us by putting a beautiful infographic together to provide us with some answers. provide one.

We think that music at the right time, tempo, genre and volume makes the working day that little bit more tolerable and creates an atmosphere conducive to work and productivity.

Alongside Spotify we’ve created our own playlist  and music channel that can fill your workplace with our favourite songs. Feel free to listen in on the sounds filling the Staff One offices and feel free to recommend your own favorites that help you get the job done.

According to one study, 73% of warehouse workers said they were more productive when there was background music playing. And, 65% of businesses thought music made them more productive. Another study reported in The Telegraph found that 88% of workers doing data-entry, solving math problems, and proofreading produced more accurate work and 81% worked faster when listening to music. Music had a positive impact on the majority of workers. Instead of harming their productivity, music helped them become more productive.

• Classical music: Workers doing math problems improved their accuracy by 12%
• Pop music: Data-entry workers worked 58% faster while listening to pop music
• Dance music: Workers increased their proofreading speed by 20%

And, no two people are the same. Employees with lots of energy might want to channel it into upbeat music to help them concentrate. Employees have different preferences, and they (most likely) know what types of music help them streamline operations.

If music can have such a powerful influence on people’s productivity and wellbeing at work, do we maybe need to plan around it more proactively rather than just leaving people to stick on whichever tunes they fancy? Looking through this infographic and the research behind it leaves me imagining offices with carefully crafted soundscapes for people doing different kinds of work: a Classical music room for the number crunchers, a pop-fuelled space for account management, maybe, and a soundproofed booth for the writers. One thing seems clear: get music in the workplace right and you could be unlocking some serious competitive advantage.

Word Courtesy: Patriot Software  Linked In