Improve your Productivity With Sounds

A recent study claims that listening to chirping birds or crashing ocean waves isn’t just relaxing–soothing sounds can boost your productivity at work. [N]atural sounds … meet standards and criteria for speech privacy while enhancing cognitive functioning, optimizing the ability to concentrate, and increasing overall worker satisfaction,” stated the authors of the recent report from the journal, Acoustical Society of America. I agree–the sounds of clacking keyboards, ringing phones, and loud co-workers can bring an office alive but can also make it difficult to concentrate. The sound of people’s laughter, for example, distracts me greatly. Here’s a novel idea: Instead of asking your office mates to work quietly (or shooting them a stern look), use your Lumia to create a distraction-free work zone.