How to Explain the Connection Between Music and Motivation?
We cannot underestimate the power of music to help us get things done. Don’t feel like going for a walk? Put your Airpods in and find an inspirational playlist. You will enjoy the music so much that you will forget about the thing you are doing that you resisted. This is also great motivation for house cleaning, yard work, or any other task you want to avoid. There is something about the energy level of certain music that boosts your mood. This in turn pushes you to be productive. How does this work? Why is there such a strong connection between music and mood? What impact does music have on the brain? The connection between music and motivation takes place within the brain.
How Music Impacts the Brain
Jennifer Fink states that “Listening to (or making) music increases blood flow to brain regions that generate and control emotions. The limbic system, which is involved in processing emotions and controlling memory, “lights” up when our ears perceive music. In addition, the chills you feel when you hear a particularly moving piece of music may be the result of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that triggers sensations of pleasure and well-being. As your brain becomes familiar with a particular song, your body may release dopamine upon hearing just the first few notes of the song.” (https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/why_and_how_music_moves_us).
We have likely all experienced this “high” from hearing our favourite songs. It can even serve as a temporary escape that gets us away from our problems. Then, it puts us in a mood where we can see them for what they truly are. We can think about them from a more rational perspective. This in turn decreases our stress levels.
Impact on Mood: The Connection Between Music and Motivation
A study done in 2019 found that college students who listened to classical music every day for two months lowered their levels of anxiety significantly. And many studies have shown that listening to music can lower your blood pressure and your heart rate (both spike when you’re stressed), and even lower stress hormones in your body (https://jedfoundation.org/resource/how-music-can-improve-your-mental-health). Symptoms of anxiety and depression can be reduced significantly by listening to music. The music and lyrics seem to impact us at a visceral level. When feeling down due to various stressors, hearing the right type of music can turn this mood around.
It seems that in today’s busy and loud world, we are often watching TV shows, or videos on our phones. This can be very distracting from accomplishing what we’d like to do with our time. Playing only music without hearing voices and watching video can be a much better alternative. We can still do other things while we listen, without getting distracted.
There are times when silence is the best course of action for what we are working on. But there are those moments when motivation is lacking or we are in a funk. When we can’t seem to propel ourselves into action, music should be our go-to. It will make a difference to our mood which is key to taking action. Our action in turn creates that elusive motivation. See the related posts The Motivation Myth and Mental Health Boosters: How To Improve Your Mood for additional insights to this important topic.
