The rise of the modern open plan office was meant to foster collaboration and team spirit. But instead, breaking down the workstation walls which once gave staff a private, quiet space to knuckle down and bring home the bacon has led to a distracting cacophony of chatter and keyboard strumming. In desperation, many office workers have chosen to drown out the ambient noise by sticking their headphones on and listening to their favourite music.

But what tracks are the most conducive to productivity? Acoustics expert Julian Treasure claims the best kind of sound to work to is background noise which we can easily discount because there isn't anything specific that our minds can latch on to. He suggests listening to birdsong or even natural sounds such as running water or the wind.

Treasure adds that while most people listen to music while working, it's debateable whether that's actually beneficial: "Most music is made with the intention to be listened to. If you are doing that, it is taking up cognition. We have relatively little cognitive bandwidth for sound."

The chairman of The Sound Agency adds that the more vocals, words, and changes in the piece of music, the more attention it will call for. Music which is therefore easiest to listen to is slow changing. If you want to listen to something other than a babbling brook, Treasure claims the repetitive rhythms of trance are a good alternative.

He adds that enjoyment is one of the most important factors for choosing a track to work to: "If we're having fun we think everything is great, but we might only be working half the pace we would if there was peace and quiet. There has to be a degree of self honesty about this."

So if you're working hard for the money and not looking forward to another manic Monday, let's put our musical minds together to create the ultimate soundtrack to our careers or job hunt.

What's your soundtrack to working hard or job hunting? Share your favourite tune and why you picked it in the comment thread below. You can also add your track to the collaborative playlist here:

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