A new study suggests that listening to music in the office improves the speed and accuracy of tasks such as data entry, proof reading and problem solving.

 

In an office-based experiment, 88 per cent of participants were found to produce their most accurate work when listening to music.

 

The study also found that 81 per cent completed their fastest work when music was played.

 

And it matters what type of music you listen to. For instance, if you're doing your tax returns, then classical music is the most effective as it improves maths skills.

 

Listening to Jessie J or Justin Bieber could also improve your speed, with 58 per cent of participants completing data entry tasks faster while listening to pop songs.

 

During proof-reading, dance music, such as David Guetta, had the biggest positive impact with participants increasing their speed by 20 per cent compared to tests undertaken with no music at all.

 

Dance music also had a positive effect on spell-checking with a 75 per cent pass rate compared to 68 per cent when no music was played at all.

 

The research, undertaken by Brighton-based Mindlab International, suggests that silent offices may be the least productive. 

 

'The MusicWorks experiment revealed a positive correlation¹ between music and productivity -- overall it showed that when listening to music, nine out of 10 people performed better,' said Dr David Lewis, chairman of Mindlab International.

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