If you’re used to the noise and hubbub of the office, working from home in relative silence may prove challenging – especially when your mind is half-focused on the task at hand, half-fretting about the constant stream of coronavirus updates popping up in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.

With this in mind, it’s definitely worth having something on in the background. After all, research has regularly shown us that listening to music can relax and restore us. Better still, though, is the fact that listening to the right kind of music improves our concentration and makes us more productive, too.

So what is the right kind of music, then? Well, one member of the Working From Home With Stylist community on Facebook recently suggested that we give ambient soundscapes a try – and her recommendation comes fully backed up by science, too.

First things first: what is a soundscape?

The word “soundscape” was coined by composer R. Murray Schafer to identify sounds that “describe a place, a sonic identity, a sonic memory, but always a sound that is pertinent to a place.”

Why are soundscapes so conducive to working from home? 

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute recently discovered that soundscapes – particularly those which include nature sounds – enhance our cognitive functioning, optimise ourability to concentrate, and increase overall worker satisfaction.

Better still, the mountain stream sound researchers used in their study also possessed enough randomness that it didn’t distract test subjects.

It seems this sense of randomness is key to finding the best soundscape for your working day. As Brian Eno, creator of Music for Airports says: “Ambient music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.”

Which soundscapes should I be listening to?

Here’s our pick of the nine most soothing soundscapes to listen to when you’re working from home.

Images: Getty