Background sounds when working from home

Working from home has been a bliss in this era. You no longer need to wake up wee early and struggle on the trains to get to work, neither do you need to slogger for hours on your way back home from office. I can now wake up an hour late, sit in my pyjamas on my sofa and still be as productive as before or even more. There is more time for myself and my loved ones, there is no stress of commuting and most of all, I can work when needed and feel way more relaxed when going to bed.

Working from home has its downsides also. There are neighbours ringing your doorbell, then there are the Amazon deliveries, your little one might just walk into your room unannounced, and more. Finding the right means to concentrate while working can be challenging.

Heard of Pavlov’s dogs yet? At the turn of the century, Ivan Pavlov found that his dogs would not only salivate when they saw food but also when they saw the person who would be feeding them. This meant the dogs weren’t just salivating because of the smell or sight of food, but because they learned to associate food with the person who fed them. This is called “Classical Conditioning”.

Conditioning of the mind

Over time, I learnt the concept of conditioning to train myself to be more productive through music and background sounds by conditioning myself to associate either a certain song, a certain style of music, or a certain playlist with productivity. Once I started consistently completing tasks while this sound or music was being played, I automatically started to feel more productive whenever that music is played.

Tasks that Require a Lot of Focus

Research has shown that studying with background sounds led to better memory results on a cognitive task than without background sounds. Music with catchy lyrics however can be the source of distraction from your work. Putting on a levelled background sound with zero or minimal lyrics drowns out distractions from around you and helps your mind concentrate harder on the job at hand.

Tasks that Require Creativity

A study done at the Goethe Institute in Frankfurt, Germany showed high correlation between happy music and creativity. Classical music tends to rank highly for positive and energetic qualities to encourage creative thinking.

When working from home, concentration is of utmost importance to ensure continued performance and productivity at work. Listening to the right background sounds has been proven to one of the best mechanism to train your mind to focus and boost efficiency.

We at The Somnos Project are working on a portfolio of products to enable humans focus harder, relax well and sleep better using the power of sounds. All the products will be free to use. We are still in our early phases of development. If you are interested in knowing more about us or want to get early access to our products, do get in touch with us.