Is Listening to Music at Work Beneficial or Distracting for Productivity?

[JeffN]

so...

i'm working at a summer co-op position at a software company until August

I basically work on the computer all day, so I was thinking that it'd make my workdays a lot more bearable if I could listen to music while working, you know?

would it be OK if i just started to bring my ipod to work, or should i check with my boss first?

 

[chroot]

You should probably check with your boss first just to make sure, but I've never been at a technical company where people weren't listening to headphones while they were working.

Honestly, unless your headphones are legitimately interfering with your work or the work of others, it'd have to be a pretty lousy place to work if they refused you headphones.

- Warren

 

[Astronuc]

would it be OK if i just started to bring my ipod to work, or should i check with my boss first?

Always check with the boss/employer first. One should not be presumptuous when working for someone else. I agree with chroot.

I have no problem with people listening to music as long as the work gets done and quality is maintained.

 

[Moonbear]

As the others have mentioned, it is always best to ask your boss first, especially if you don't see a lot of other people already doing the same to indicate it is acceptable in that office. The other thing to remember is office etiquette is different than when you're just hanging out with friends. If someone talks to you, take the earphones off so they KNOW you're listening to them; don't just silence the iPod or lower the volume and leave the earphones on your ears while someone else is talking. Also, be mindful of anyone else working close to you. Make sure you ask them if you're playing the music too loud or if they can hear it, and that they should let you know right away if it bothers them. If you play your music quietly, it's not usually a problem (take the earbuds off and set them on your desk in front of you...if you can still hear your music, it's probably too loud for working around others), but some people either play their music really loudly or have earbuds that let a lot of the sound escape out of them, so the people around you get stuck being annoyed by your music (even if they don't speak up about it).

Usually, if an office has a rule AGAINST listening to music, it's because some former employee(s) was(were) disrespectful and abused the privilege to the point where it was necessary to ban it, so try not to be the one who gets it prohibited for everyone else.

 

[SpaceTiger]

so...

i'm working at a summer co-op position at a software company until August

I basically work on the computer all day, so I was thinking that it'd make my workdays a lot more bearable if I could listen to music while working, you know?

would it be OK if i just started to bring my ipod to work, or should i check with my boss first?

You should ask, though most bosses won't care. I often have difficulty thinking with music playing, but it's great for busy work.

 

[Xezlec]

I often have difficulty thinking with music playing, but it's great for busy work.

Interesting, I don't have that problem. But the thinking I do on a daily basis might not be all that involved. That said, I wonder if lyrics have anything to do with it? My music almost never has lyrics. Yours?

I guess I usually stop the music when I run into a real problem, though.

 

[SpaceTiger]

Interesting, I don't have that problem. But the thinking I do on a daily basis might not be all that involved. That said, I wonder if lyrics have anything to do with it? My music almost never has lyrics. Yours?

Always. I'm a very active music listener -- that is, I don't like using it as background. As a musician and songwriter, I have a tendency to get absorbed in the details of the music and lose my train of thought.

 

[Evo]

Always. I'm a very active music listener -- that is, I don't like using it as background. As a musician and songwriter, I have a tendency to get absorbed in the details of the music and lose my train of thought.

I'm the same. I"m not a musician, but I constantly make up songs and sing them all of the time. I wonder if the more musically inclined a person is the more distracting music is to concentrating on other things?

Also, my old company had a rule against music being played in the office. We dealt with clients and hearing music in the background if we were talking on the phone was considered unprofessional. I can't believe my current company allows it. If you aren't dealing with clients, it probably is allowed. Although in the world of cubicles, even very soft music can be heard by the occupant of the next cubicle. I have very sensitive hearing and where my cubicle is positioned, I can hear 4 different radio stations playing at once. Try sitting through that 8 hours a day.

Perhaps I should bring in some polka CD's.

 

[Astronuc]

Although in the world of cubicles, even very soft music can be heard by the occupant of the next cubicle. I have very sensitive hearing and where my cubicle is positioned, I can hear 4 different radio stations playing at once. Try sitting through that 8 hours a day.

Perhaps I should bring in some polka CD's.

By them cheap head phones and leave them anonymously. Or after work, turn up the volume on the PC's or radio or whatever they are listening to.

 

[Ki Man]

leave some headphones on each desk, including yours. then, try to act just as suprised as they are

 

[Xezlec]

I'm the same. I"m not a musician, but I constantly make up songs and sing them all of the time. I wonder if the more musically inclined a person is the more distracting music is to concentrating on other things?

That would make me a non-musically-inclined person? Okay, well I guess the thread I just started about people making music will eventually answer that. I might not be musically inclined compared to other people here. But I think I am compared to some people in the world.

 

[Evo]

That would make me a non-musically-inclined person? Okay, well I guess the thread I just started about people making music will eventually answer that. I might not be musically inclined compared to other people here. But I think I am compared to some people in the world.

Being a song writer and playing an instrument is the defining line for me. I was never allowed to take lessons to play any instruments when I was a child, so I taught myself. You can take that to mean that I make some rather unrecognizable sounds out of the instruments I play.

I do have perfect pitch, can read music, and spent a number of years singing in the a capella choir. I'm not a musician though.

re headphones - we are on the phone maybe half of the day, calling clients, answering calls from clients and coordinating with other divisions within the company, so using headphones isn't an option.

 

[Xezlec]

Being a song writer and playing an instrument is the defining line for me. I was never allowed to take lessons to play any instruments when I was a child, so I taught myself. You can take that to mean that I make some rather unrecognizable sounds out of the instruments I play.

I do have perfect pitch, can read music, and spent a number of years singing in the a capella choir. I'm not a musician though.

OK, I'm definitely not even close to being a musician by your extremely high standards. Don't bother listening to my songs, LOL.

It's sad that someone who sang in a choir, reads music, and has perfect pitch doesn't consider herself a musician. It sounds like you're a better musician that a large percentage of professional mucisians. At least where I'm from.

 

[DaveC426913]

I often have difficulty thinking with music playing, but it's great for busy work.

I go back and forth. Most of the time I listen to music when coasting through my programming, but when a real tough problem comes along, one that needs both sides of my brain, I have to turn it off.

 

[SpaceTiger]

I would say a musician is anyone who plays an instrument or writes music on a regular basis. Having perfect pitch is convenient for a musician, I'm sure, but doesn't say much about their ability to actually produce music.

 

[Evo]

Having perfect pitch is convenient for a musician, I'm sure, but doesn't say much about their ability to actually produce music.

Exactly, although I play a mean autoharp, I'm no musician. I tend to classify it as

musician - someone that plays an instrument well

songwriter - writes songs but doesn't play an instrument

singer - sings but doesn't play an instrument.

Not saying that these are correct definitions, just my definitions.

 

[honestrosewater]

I almost always listen to music, with and without lyrics, in the background while learning about or working on anything, except when writing or reading poetry (since that's like listening to two songs at once).

I go back and forth. Most of the time I listen to music when coasting through my programming, but when a real tough problem comes along, one that needs both sides of my brain, I have to turn it off.

Do you usually talk these problems out in your head, or do you use another channel, e.g., vision? It seems to me that it could just be that the speech of your inner voice and the music are interfering with each other or overburdening specific parts of your brain (concerned with auditory processing). I think it would be interesting to find some kind of visual analogue to background music and try playing it when you come to one of the problems that requires you to turn off the music. I might do that myself. Any ideas for such a visual analogue?

 

[check]

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"I was told that I could listen to the radio at a reasonable volume from nine to eleven, I told Bill that if Sandra is going to listen to her headphones while she's filing then I should be able to listen to the radio while I'm collating so I don't see why I should have to turn down the radio because I enjoy listening at a reasonable volume from nine to eleven. " - Milton Waddams, Office Space

Hehe, reminded me of that.

 

[dontdisturbmycircles]

I must admit I was thinking of the same thing check. lol.

 

[SpaceTiger]

Hehe, reminded me of that.

Funny, I just saw that movie again last night.

 

[turbo]

I would say a musician is anyone who plays an instrument or writes music on a regular basis. Having perfect pitch is convenient for a musician, I'm sure, but doesn't say much about their ability to actually produce music.

It would be handy, to hear a note and identify it immediately. I can't do that, but having hosted open-mike jams for a few years, I'm pretty good at figuring out chord progressions very quickly. If I have to write something that requires a lot of thought, I can do so with very familiar music in the background or in silence. I cannot do so with unfamiliar music playing, because I get distracted listening to lyrics, sorting out the arrangement, etc. I would go nuts in a cubicle surrounded by people playing different radio stations at their desks, even if they weren't playing them loudly. Sometimes, music at a just-audible level is distracting because if I hear anything interesting, my brain wants to to try to tease it out from the background noise and make sense of it, even if I'm not actively trying to listen to it. Another problem is that my hearing is very acute. Although I'm 55, I can hear that nasty, annoying "mosquito" ring tone very easily, and ultrasonic pest-repelling devices set my teeth on edge.