Listening to music while working can sometimes increase your focus, but excessive use of it can also lead to problems like mental fatigue and sound sensitivity. It is important to maintain balance.

Earphones or earpods have become an almost essential part of today's work culture. As soon as we enter the office, the first thing that is taken out of the bag along with the laptop, water bottle, and charger is the earphones. Once you put them in your ears, the sound of the world stops and the focus is completely reduced. But do these habits really help us focus or are they slowly taking us away from real comfort and mental peace? Recently, a woman faced mild hearing problems after wearing earpods for 8 hours continuously. This incident forced many people to think whether we have become overly dependent on music or audio.

Does music improve focus?

If the environment around you is noisy, then music in the background can act as a buffer for the brain. But if you are doing some work that involves reading or writing and the song has lyrics, then it can have the opposite effect. Instrumental music or ambient sound is more beneficial.

Some people also listen to brown noise. This is a slow, continuous sound that has no melody or emotion. Therefore, it helps to stay focused without distracting the mind. This is especially useful for people who have difficulty concentrating.

But this habit can also become an addiction

If your mind learns to focus only on audio, then after a while silence also starts feeling uncomfortable. This habit can later lead to distraction and mental fatigue. Therefore, it is important that we make ourselves habituated to working without music at times.

Silent device issues

As relaxing as listening to music may seem, wearing earphones for long periods of time can be harmful to your ears. Wearing earbuds for a long time can push the wax in the ears. This can lead to dryness, itching and even infection and mild hearing loss.

Very few people know that constantly blocking external sounds through ear plugs or earphones makes your brain weak in understanding natural sounds. The effect of this is that even the softest sounds of the real world start irritating you. This increases irritability or sound sensitivity.

How much do you need to hear

There is no set time limit for listening to music with earphones. But experts recommend following the 60-60 rule. Do not listen for more than 60 minutes at a time and do not keep the volume above 60 percent.

Keep some important earphone etiquettes in mind

You should also remember some important etiquettes while listening to music by wearing earphones and earpods while working. Like, you should take a break of 5 to 10 minutes every 30 to 60 minutes. Apart from this, earpods should be kept clean and hygienic. At the same time, earbuds should not be inserted too deep into the ears. Sometimes you should work even without music and always keep the volume limited.