Background Reseach

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After going to Google and entering the keywords, music vs procrastination, we yielded the following data:

(This information is from: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/music-vs-workflow.html )

It is said that music, especially classical music, helps people to sleep, which can translate into increased productivity and workflow. The slower the BPM, or beats per minute, that the music is, the easier it is for a person to fall asleep. On the other hand, songs with a faster BPM, help people to get an instant lift at work, as it helps to stimulate the person’s emotions, thus making them more productive. This web site stated that there were four things to keep in mind when choosing a song to help with productivity:

1. “The groove” – choose a tempo that will help keep you stimulated and focused.

2. Familiarity – choose a song that is familiar to you and will make you more comfortable.

3. Continuity – the more constant that the tempo of the song is, the less likely you are to become distracted.

4. Length – the length of the song should reflect the amount of work that needs to be done. If you have a lot of work to do, then several similar songs should be played together.

The web site also suggested a few other tips to help music influence productivity: • Wearing headphones will provide greater sound quality, provide greater privacy, and be less distracting to other people who might be trying to work • Don’t listen to records or CDs, as this will take time away from your activities because of the need to change the CD. A play list should be made on the computer to save time and effort. • Download music before you start working. It is too tempting to check the download status and switch to the newly downloaded music once it is completed.

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After going to Google and entering the keywords, procrastination habits, we yielded the following data:

(This information is from: http://www.mental-health-matters.com/articles/print.php?artID=583)

Procrastination does not just mean putting off or not doing something. It is also about choosing to do something else, completely different from the target goal or assignment. Because procrastination makes you put things off, it can cause stress, and be physically and mentally draining on your body. The web site outlines a five step method on how to beat procrastination, by directly kicking the habits that cause it:

1. “Conversion” – Many people have trouble with procrastination because they don’t want to make a distinction between what they want to do, and what they must do. In this step, people are encouraged to turn the need to’s into want to’s. Their example was looking at the long term financial benefits of looking at and balancing their statements.

2. “Prioritization” – Tackle the hardest and most important tasks early in the morning, or when you have the most energy.

3. “Delegation” – You should ask yourself, does it need to be done at all? Could someone else do it? Asking yourself questions like this will help to make your task load lighter, and to prioritize and complete all of your tasks.

4. “Do it in pieces” – Many people procrastinate because their task seems too large to handle. Larger tasks should be broken up into manageable pieces that can be completed in a timely manner.

5. “Develop a system” – develop a way that helps you beat procrastination by completing the tasks that are assigned to you. The system should reflect your personal style and help you beat procrastination the best way that works for you.

However, after going to Google and typing in the following sets of keywords, we yielded results that had little, or nothing to do with our study. They were results about songs about or named procrastination:

• Music genre + procrastination
• Music genre influencing procrastination

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