Have Yourself a Productive Little Workday With These Christmas Songs

If you’ve been playing Christmas music to brighten up those long workdays between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, some of those seasonal songs could help you get more done (and some may be holding you back).

Project management software company Workamajig(Opens in a new window) went through Spotify’s Christmas Classics(Opens in a new window) playlist and utilized a scientific study that found songs with 50 to 80 beats per minute (bpms) are best for productivity. It found that “Carol of the Bells,” by Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych, is the best to work to, at 47bpms. Following that is “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” by Brenda Leem, which always puts us in the mood to watch Home Alone (streaming on Disney+(Opens in a new window)).

Next up is a trio of crooners: Bing Crosby’s “Silver Bells,” Andy Williams’ “Happy Holiday/The Holiday Season,” and Tony Bennett’s “O Christmas Tree.” Two Vince Guaraldi Trio songs from A Charlie Brown Christmas (streaming on Apple TV+(Opens in a new window)) are on the list: “Christmas Time Is Here” at number five and “Linus and Lucy” at number 10. In the spots in between them are “The Christmas Song” (“Merry Christmas To You”), by Nat King Cole, “The Christmas Waltz,” by Frank Sinatra, and “The First Noël,” by Andy Williams.

Dreaming of both Hawaii and Christmas is going to get you nowhere work-wise, so it’s not a surprise that “Mele Kalikimaka,” by Bing Crosby, is exceedingly distracting at 208bpms. It’s followed by “The Happiest Christmas Tree,” by Nat King Cole, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” by Andy Williams, “Santa Tell Me,” by Ariana Grande (the most contemporary song on this list), “Caroling, Caroling,” by Nat King Cole, “Christmas Dream,” by Perry Como, “Please Come Home for Christmas,” by The Eagles, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” by Judy Garland, “Jingle Bells,” by Frank Sinatra, and “Adeste Fideles,” by Bing Crosby.

Somehow, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” doesn’t crack the most distracting list at 150bpms, but that leaves out the fact that you’d stop working to sing along. 

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