This month I’m getting serious about being more productive. I blog for a living, but I am also a ghostwriter. I had a full-time client message me and say that he is taking a break for a month, which means I now have a full month to focus solely on my blogs. Yikes!
I’ve been working for him over 40 hours a week for almost a year, so I haven’t had a lot of extra time to try and do something with my blogs. But, I’m excited to see what one full month of complete focus on my blogs will do. The bottom line is that I need to do what I say I’m going to do, bang out my goals, and get some real things accomplished before my client comes back into my life!
For work, I want to be creative! I don’t normally listen to music while I work but sometimes if I’m in a loud place, I will listen to classical music as it seems to help me focus. Knowing that, I don’t know why I haven’t made music a part of my day.
I’ve heard that music actually makes you less productive. But, I’m not sure that’s true. Yes, it might get distracting if you are listening to the wrong type of music, but so many people swear by music that I just can’t believe it’s that cut and dry. Not just people in my life, but article after article says music helps productivity.
My husband always has earphones on his ears and is listening to music. Even while he was studying, he would listen to music. He swears it helps him concentrate better. And, he listens to heavy metal exclusively.
So, I made a commitment to make music a part of my month in a big way. In fact, I headed over to Google Play Music and signed up for a subscription so that I could listen to music that I’ve been wanting to listen to, such as Enya.
What I noticed straight away about Google Play Music is that they have music playlists lined up for you. For instance, right now it’s Monday afternoon, so it says, “It’s Monday afternoon, play something for…” and then it has options such as boost your energy and Monday motivation. That sounds exactly like what I was trying to do. Who knew? Google Play already knows that music is important for stimulating various moods! (I’m willing to bet a lot of people knew!)
In fact, this article talks about things like how and why music makes repetitive tasks more enjoyable and how ambient noise is great for creativity. It also says that talking that can be heard clearly in music is what distracts you the most when you are trying to concentrate.
It makes sense because earlier I was listening to some 90’s songs on Google Play Music and instead of working, I found myself singing and thinking about my later teens. Of course, that got me way off what I was trying to focus on. But, when I put on some Enya (that I had been dying to hear for a long time), where the words are fewer and a little softer, I was able to bang out an article for a blog post quickly. It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand the words, it was just that the music seemed to trump the words in most of her songs – except for the ones I remember being a big part of life when I was younger.
So, if you are aiming to be more of anything, especially productive, I recommend listening to some music. Just make sure it is music that keeps you focused, not music that makes you cry your eyes out, sing your butt off, or reflect on the past.
Remember, my husband listens to heavy metal to stay focused and productive. Therefore, I don’t think that there is one type of music to help you stay focused and productive…I think it just depends on you and your preferences. So, don’t listen to what other people tell you that you should listen to. Do what works for you!
