A new study shows promising results for workers who enjoy having something constantly on in the background. A double blind study showed that multitasking by listening to an audiobook while performing other work tasks increased productivity by 14% and decreased the existential horror of being alone with your own thoughts by 89%.
“I prefer audiobooks to podcasts,” explained survey participant Hannah, “because when I listen to an audiobook, I’m not getting an ad for virtual therapy every 30 minutes. If I wanted to see a therapist, I would. I don’t. That’s why I’m listening to audiobooks on my phone in the first place.”
The study found no meaningful difference among types of audiobooks consumed– from nonfiction to political thrillers, YA aventure stories and even erotic fanfiction. The results were about the same, so long as participants had something to block out the competing thoughts in their own heads, such as “is your best friend secretly mad at you” or “is your boss secretly mad at you.”
Unfortunately, the study also determined that using an audiobook to escape from mindfulness was not effective as a long-term solution to the pain of existence. However, audiobook users say aren’t giving up.
“It’s just because they haven’t studied it enough,” Hannah said. “Constant intake of content is the key to mental health, and I’m going to keep listening to audiobooks nonstop, for the rest of my life, until science catches up with me.”
