Most of us have hit that all too familiar brick wall when working from home. But with research showing music tempo can have a large effect on arousal, mood and spatial ability, what is the best BPM to get us out of that lull?

To find out just that, British electronics retailer Ebuyer spoke with Dennis Relojo-Howell, founder of Psychreg and a PhD researcher in clinical psychology at the University of Edinburgh, to determine the best tempo of music to increase productivity.

Plus, based on findings Ebuyer have crafted a playlist to make blankly staring into the abyss of your laptop a thing of the past. 

How can music influence our arousal levels?

Without the buzz of the office, the silence can quite literally be deafening. So music can be a great way of fuelling our cognitive abilities and boosting our mood – meaning those afternoon tasks aren’t the slog you imagined they would be.

Dennis builds on this revealing that ‘a large body of research has demonstrated the therapeutic benefits of listening to music, be it to boost our mood, comfort us when we are sad, or help us to vent out strong emotions such as anger or frustration. And from a sociological standpoint, the strong bond between music, culture, and human emotion goes back to our earliest ancestors.

‘When we listen to music, play a musical instrument or compose it, we activate and engage multiple areas across both halves of the brain.’

What is the best BPM for working from home?

Although music has the potential to boost our mood – there is also the ability to send us into a state of relaxation. So, what is the best BPM (beat per music) to give you the boost that caffeine wishes it could?

Dennis reveals that ‘research has shown that music that has a tempo of 60–75 bpm (beats per minute) increases the efficiency of the brain in processing information. 

‘Due to the similarity between medium tempo and humans’ physiological rhythms (∼75 bpm), it could be assumed that it may be easier to process activities in the autonomic emotional network with medium-tempo music than with music of other tempi.’

The Ebuyer WFH powerhouse playlist

With this in mind, Ebuyer have put together a powerhouse playlist based on expert recommendation³. From ex-boy bander ballads, to 90’s Britpop swagger, there is something for everyone:

Commenting on the research, Andy Roberts e-commerce director at Ebuyer said: ‘As the new normal for working life means that many businesses have decided to move to remote, or hybrid working – getting that last bit of motivation to get us through the afternoon can prove difficult.

‘However, we hope our insight can give people the motivation they need to push through the motivational brick wall.’

Further information on remote working is available on Ebuyer.