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April 1, 2022 - April 14, 2022
Greater Fayetteville Business Journal
EDITOR'S NOTES
4424 Bragg Blvd, Fayetteville, NC 28303 910-240-9697 bizfayetteville.com
bizfayetteville.com
All ears
PUBLISHER Marty Cayton martyc@bizfayetteville.com
SOUNDS THAT HELP GET THE JOB DONE
EDITOR Jenna Shackelford jennas@bizfayetteville.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Charity Brandsma Kathie Harris Jenna-Ley Jamison Monica Kreber Suet Lee-Growney Jami McLaughlin Scott Nunn Savanah Ramsey Nicole Zappone CONTRIBUTING WRITER MARKETING CONTENT Stacie Borrello CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER Samantha Lowe samanthal@bizfayetteville.com ACCOUNTING Priscilla Nelson billing@bizfayetteville
The Greater Fayetteville Business Journal is published twice a month throughout Fayetteville and the Cumberland County region. News related to the region’s business sector is posted daily at bizfayetteville.com. SUBSCRIPTIONS Your free trial of Greater Fayetteville Business Journal is ending soon. To subscribe, call 910-240-9697 or visit bizfayetteville.com/ subscribe. Subscriptions cost $9.95 per month or $95 per year. REPRINT For article reprints, plaques and more contact Jenna Shackelford at 910-240-9697. ADVERTISING For advertising information, please email us at marketing@bizfayetteville.com or call 910-240-9697. © Copyright 2022 Greater Fayetteville Business Journal
C-D-X-PDX-A-82OBO/UNSPLASH
While many people have heard of studies citing classical music as a genre that spurs on relaxation and focus, different sounds and genres can be useful resources when working depending on the tasks.
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verybody works differently, and what’s a distraction to someone might be a motivator for another. But I’m a sucker for noise in the workplace. Certain kinds of noise, that is. If I can sing along and know the words, I’m not getting any work done. Writing while listening to Taylor Swift? Not a good move. “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version)” recently won the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Award for Best Lyrics, but while the words sound poetic with a melody, a Freudian slip of the fingers while typing won’t make the song fit neatly into an article about banking and finance. That being said, background noise can be beneficial when trying to knock out some tasks. Inc. had an interesting article on this in 2018 titled “3 Ways Listening to Music Actually Makes You More Productive.” Research shows, the author explained, that music can help writers get “in the zone,” can promote focus and positive behavior, and inspire problem-solving. The caveats to these benefits, the author listed, are that the volume, music choice, and other factors like the quality of the recording, the
tasks you’re doing, etc. can affect the tasks at hand. There’s not one magical productivity song that works for everyone, no matter the task. I’ve got quite a lot of go-tos, as evidenced by the 11,927 minutes I spent in 2021 listening to Spotify last year, according to my Spotify Wrapped. I’ve pared down the list to share a few I enjoy. Give them a listen, if you’d like, or consider how different sounds and noises may boost your workflow.
Music
If I know one line, even just that one, I’ll listen until I know them all. I listen to a hodgepodge of artists and genres in my spare time, but while I’m working, I try to keep the list of music to songs that I don’t know the lyrics to and can’t or won’t easily learn them, or to songs that have very few lyrics. SOME RECENT FAVORITES: » “Meridian” by August Burns Red » “Si jamais j'oublie” by Zaz
Audiobooks
accounts, so I normally listen to these if I’m doing tasks that are repetitive or don’t require deep concentration, like making graphics on canva, resizing images, or cleaning up Google Drive folders. SOME RECENT FAVORITES: » “The Guilty” by James Patterson » “Who is Elmyr?” By Max Horberry » “Interior Chinatown” by Charles Yu » “Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?: And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House” by Alyssa Mastromo naco
White noise
I have exactly one white noise video that helps me concentrate. I listen to it when I need to be 100 percent focused on a task, especially under a deadline. Spotify and Youtube offer an abundance of choices, but I have the same go-to every time. From a Youtube channel called “Relaxing White Noise,” my favorite option is “STUDY POWER | Focus, Increase Concentration, Calm Your Mind | White Noise For Homework & School.”
Oftentimes, when I listen to books, I veer toward intricate storylines, comedy you get lost in, and historical
JENNA SHACKELFORD, Editor 910-240-9697, Ext 102 • jennas@bizfayetteville.com
