A lot of my work involves activities for which I need a very quiet environment, but when I’m writing, I’m more creative and more productive when I have some amount of visual and/or auditory stimulation. For example, I found that when writing this book I was more creative and more productive when I did the writing at a coffee shop, where there are sights and sounds surrounding me.
Although I haven’t yet found the research that would support the idea that stimulation of peripheral vision increases creativity (I’m still looking), there is research that shows that noise and music increase creativity.
Quiet Isn’t Necessarily A Good Thing
When it comes to creativity, being in a very quiet environment isn’t always a good thing. Ravi Mehta (2012) tested how much noise was ideal for increasing creativity. 50 dB (decibels) was not enough noise, and 85 dB was too much. The best level seems to be around 70 dB, which is about the level at a coffee shop, taking into account the general noise level from the espresso machine, conversations, and perhaps music. Mehta concluded that as noise levels increased, so did abstract thinking. When the noise reaches too high a level, abstract thinking continues, but there’s too much distraction for creative thinking—hence the “just right” middle amount of noise between 50 and 85 dB.
Debunking The Mozart Effect
You may have heard about the Mozart effect. This popular theory from the 1990s stated that listening to Mozart would make people perform better on tests, make them smarter, and make them more creative. It has since been debunked. But not the entire theory has been debunked.
It turns out there is a Mozart effect—and a Bach effect, and a [name of favorite musician goes here!] effect. It’s a “listen to music you like” effect. In fact, it’s not really a music effect. Even listening to audio books can boost people’s ability to solve visual problems after they listen (Naintais, 1999). In fact, listening to anything they like helps people solve problems better afterwards. The idea is that the audio puts people in a better mood, which makes them perform better.
But what about creativity—does listening to music make you creative while you’re listening?
Music And The Default Network
Remember the discussion of the default network and creativity earlier in this chapter? According to Daniel Levitin, author of The Organized Mind, listening to music activates the default network, which as we saw before, increases creativity.
Takeaways
- To increase creativity, don’t work in a totally silent environment. Have a moderate level of noise (70 dB).
- To increase creativity, listen to music you like. This will activate your default network.
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