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Even though Windows XP was released way back in 2001, it’s still a pretty great operating system. It’s stable, has a Start button and gets the job done. That’s why there are literally hundreds of millions of computers that still have it installed. It’s so popular, in fact, that it’s the second most installed operating system in the world, only a little bit behind Windows 7.

Unfortunately, this isn’t really a good thing. The reason being Microsoft. Up till now, Microsoft has been extending the deadline for when it would drop support for Windows XP, but now it seems they are really going to kill it off. On April 8th, 2014, Microsoft will stop supporting Windows XP completely. This is big news because it means in about 4 months, there will be millions of computers that are going to be vulnerable to hackers.

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Source: The Next Web

End of support means Microsoft will no longer provide any technical assistance to businesses or consumers for Windows XP troubleshooting. In addition and more importantly, Microsoft will no longer provide any security patches or updates for the operating system. On top of that, you won’t even be able to download Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows XP, the free antivirus software, after this date.

This is really bad news for anyone who has Windows XP installed after this date because there are literally hundreds of security vulnerabilities detected in Windows XP every year and once support ends, all of those security holes will be exploited by hackers and there literally won’t be anything to stop them.

Several Microsoft executives have also stated openly that businesses and users who do not update the operating system or buy a new PC will be open to many new attacks. One possible solution if you still have to use XP for whatever reason is to disconnect the computer from the Internet. Obviously, the PC can still be infected over the LAN network, but you’ll have a better chance than if it’s connected directly to the Internet.

For any business that needs support for Windows XP past the April 2014 deadline, another option is to install Windows Server 2003. Windows Server 2003 uses the same kernel as Windows XP and therefore can run all the same apps without any compatibility issues. Support for Windows Server 2003 does not end until July 15th 2023, so you can get an extra year to upgrade your apps to a newer operating system.

As for consumers, according to Microsoft’s official statement, they would love for you to upgrade to Windows 8.1.

The other reason to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 or Windows 8 is so that you can use the latest software and devices with your computer. XP is so old that a lot of new software simply will not run on it. In addition, some newer devices and gadgets may not be recognized by the system properly.

Upgrading an old PC to Windows 8 is actually not a bad idea. I wrote a post a while back on revitalizing an old PC by installing Windows 8 on it. The system requirements are pretty low, meaning you can install it on some fairly old hardware. Of course, you’ll have to buy Windows 8 Upgrade, which currently costs around $119, but that might be a better option than buying a new computer altogether.

If you do install Windows 8 and you get any kind of error about the CPU not being compatible, check out the link. I’ve personally installed Windows 8.1 on a couple of old desktops at home and they work great for browsing, email, watching videos, reading news, etc. With Windows 8.1, you also kind of get the Start button back, so if you have been holding back because of the lack of a Start button, it’s not that bad anymore in 8.1.

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The Questions You Should Be Asking References

Employers conduct reference checks by contacting a job candidate’s professional and personal connections. The goal is to better understand the candidate’s skills, qualifications and demeanor.

Your reference check questions should discern whether a candidate would fit in at your company. They cannot pertain to your candidate’s personal information.

Your company should develop a process to ensure consistency among all reference checks and determine which questions to ask references.

This article is for business owners and hiring managers who are planning to conduct reference checks for prospective employees.

A job candidate may ace the interview, but that doesn’t always make them a perfect hire. You can better understand an applicant’s compatibility with your company by checking their references, especially if you ask the right questions. We’ll share 32 reference check questions that focus on a candidate’s performance and what it was like to manage and work alongside them. These questions can help ensure a successful hire and a valuable new team member.

What is a reference check?

A reference check is when an employer reaches out to people who can shed light on a job candidate’s strengths and speak to their qualifications. These contacts tend to be previous employers but also may include university professors, longtime colleagues and other people familiar with the applicant’s work. 

As an employer, you may find that reference checks help paint a full picture of a potential hire. Unfortunately, people lie on their resumes sometimes and present qualifications they don’t actually possess. If you ask your applicant’s professional references the right questions, you’ll learn more about the candidate’s skills and qualifications than you would from a traditional job interview alone.

Reference check goals include the following: 

Confirm the written or verbal information the potential employee provided.

Learn about the candidate’s skills and strengths from someone other than the candidate.

Gather information about the applicant’s job performance in past roles to predict their success at your company.

With all of this information, you should have an easier time choosing which candidates to move forward in the hiring process.

Did You Know?

Reference checks can help you avoid hiring horror stories and costly personnel and management headaches.

What information should you ask a reference?

When developing your list of reference check questions, you should determine the information you want to confirm about the job candidate. You may be interested in the references’ insights about the candidate on these topics:

Job performance

Ability to understand and follow directions

Ability to work well as part of a team

Standards for office behavior and ethics

Interests, specialties and demeanor

Ability to give directions and ensure that subordinates follow them (if they’re applying for a leadership role)

Anything else that stands out on the candidate’s resume or emerged during their job interview

Some of these topics are more appropriate to discuss with professional references; others may be more suitable to ask personal references. For example, a former supervisor can speak to how well a candidate operates as part of a team, while a close friend or mentor can describe the candidate’s interests, specialties and demeanor.

Just as there are specific questions you should never ask a job candidate, there are questions you can’t ask a reference. You must only ask questions that pertain to the job; inappropriate questions can subject your company to discrimination claims. 

Consider the following problematic questions you should never ask references:

Anything related to demographics or personal information: Don’t ask about a candidate’s sexuality, age, religion or similar matters.

Anything related to personal health: Don’t ask about a candidate’s medical history or the existence of disabilities. You can ask whether the candidate is capable of performing the tasks the job requires.

Anything related to credit scores: Although you can request a credit score from a job applicant, the Fair Credit Reporting Act bars you from asking references about an applicant’s credit score.

Anything related to family: Don’t ask whether a candidate has (or plans to have) children or a spouse. If you worry that a job applicant with a family might not have enough time for the job, ask references if they think the job’s time demands will suit the candidate.

Tip

Gathering references is an important step to ensuring you make the best hiring decisions for your vacant positions. Check out these other tips for hiring the best employees to build your team as effectively as possible.

32 reference check questions to ask

Now that you know what information to request from a reference, you’re ready to develop your list of reference check questions. Below are 32 common reference check questions to use. You may think some don’t apply to your company, but you should speak with your hiring manager before eliminating any questions.

Introductory reference check questions

Is there any information you and/or your company are unwilling or unable to give me about the candidate?

If you can’t share any information with me, can you connect me with any former employees who worked closely with the candidate?

Can you confirm the candidate’s employment start and end dates, salary and job title?

What is your relationship to the candidate, and how did you first meet?

Reference check questions for getting to know the reference

For how long have you worked at your company?

For how long have you had your current job title?

For how long did you work with the candidate, and in what capacities?

Can you think of any reasons I should be speaking with another reference instead of yourself?

Performance-related reference check questions

What positions did the candidate have while at your company?

In what roles did the candidate start and end?

What did these roles entail?

What were the most challenging parts of the candidate’s roles at your company?

How did the candidate face these challenges and other obstacles?

What are the candidate’s professional strengths, and how did they benefit your company?

In what areas does the candidate need improvement?

Do you think the candidate is qualified for this job, and why or why not?

Reference check questions to ask managers

For how long did you directly or indirectly manage the candidate?

In what ways was managing the candidate easy, and in what ways was it challenging?

How did the candidate grow during their time working under you?

What suggestions do you have for managing this candidate?

Reference check questions to ask employees who reported to your candidate

For how long did the candidate manage you, and in what capacity?

What did you like most and least about the candidate’s management style?

How did the candidate’s management style help you grow and learn?

How could the candidate have better managed you and your co-workers?

Reference check questions to ask co-workers

For how long were you among the candidate’s colleagues, and in what capacity?

What did you like most and least about working with the candidate?

How did you grow and learn while working with the candidate?

How did the candidate support you and your other colleagues?

In what ways could the candidate have been a better co-worker to you and your colleagues?

Reference check questions about ethics and behavior

Why did the candidate leave your company?

Did this candidate’s behavior lead to any workplace conflicts or instances of questionable ethics?

If the opportunity arose, would you be willing and/or able to rehire the candidate, and why or why not?

Just as you can speak with your hiring manager about potentially removing certain questions from this list, you can discuss adding other questions. As long as any additional questions shed light on how your candidate would perform during employment with your company and you don’t ask for personal information, there’s a good chance you’re asking the right questions.

Did You Know?

Some candidates may need more scrutiny than others. Some employers conduct background checks to verify job candidates and their credentials.

How to conduct a reference check

If you decide to check references for new hires, implement a formal procedure at your company. This will streamline the process of obtaining your candidates’ references. From start to finish, your hiring team should follow these steps to conduct a thorough reference check:

Decide how many references to obtain from each applicant. Two or three should suffice.

Include a section for references in every job application. Ask candidates to include their references’ full names, phone numbers, email addresses and relationship to the candidate.

Get permission to contact the reference. Include a clause in your job application that the applicant signs to give you permission to contact their references. You should also email a reference to get their permission to ask them questions about the candidate.

Decide whether you’ll conduct your reference checks by phone or email. While sending questions by email will save your company time — especially if you have a standard list of questions you send to all references — verbal checks via phone or video chat, or even in-person meetings, can offer you a clearer understanding of a candidate.

Develop a list of reference check questions. Consider the list above to determine potential questions.

Watch out for red flags. Not every candidate is entirely truthful on their resume, so do your research before contacting a reference.

Establish a standard note-taking process. Don’t expect to remember every single thing you discussed during a reference check. Work with your hiring team to develop a note-taking format and process the whole team can understand and use.

Tip

If an employer discovers that a job candidate misrepresented their qualifications or lied on their resume, they can rescind the job offer.

Reference checks help employers make good hiring decisions

Reference checks give you a chance to fill gaps that arise while you’re getting to know a candidate during the interview process. Talking to an applicant’s personal references can tell you if they’re the right fit and help you avoid a costly bad hire. By allowing you to discover the candidate’s management style or determining how they’ll respond under pressure, reference checks can tell you much more than an interview alone. 

Once you’ve conducted reference checks on all of your job candidates, you should have all of the information you need to decide which one is best for the job and reach out with a formal job offer letter. If the candidate accepts, congratulate them and yourself — and start your onboarding process.

Natalie Hamingson contributed to this article.

You’ll Never Be #1, Nor Should You Try To Be…

Transcript:

As a culture, especially in America, we like to rank things. There’s top 10 lists of all sorts, competitions to determine who’s the best in a given category and even outside of these so-called competitions, people and companies claim to be “the best” or “number one.” Here’s a question for you? How can there be millions of “the world’s best pizza” pizzarias? There can’t. Deep down, I think we all understand that it’s a marketing ploy by all those restaurants. But then, how do you know if someone is number one? More importantly, does it even matter? I say not. Stay with me to find out why.

First off, I want you to know that many of the concepts I’m sharing here are from a thinker I admire more and more every day, and that’s Simon Sinek. He recently came out with a book called The Infinite Game, which I encourage you to check out. I got introduced to his thinking about 10 months ago via a podcast and his words shifted my thinking dramatically. And I hope you’ll have the same epiphanies now as I did almost a year ago.

The core of what Simon teaches is that there’s two types of games. Finite and infinite. Most of us are familiar with finite games. A game of baseball is a finite game. A sport’s league constitutes as a finite game. The hot dog eating contest at your local fair counts. What each of these have in common is that there are set rules, players, objectives and timelines that are agreed upon by everyone. Pretty much any sport of competition is an example of a finite game, as long as it meets that criteria. And I’ll be the first to admit, I love sports and more specifically, sports metaphors. However, there’s one flaw with sports analogies and that’s the fact that they’re finite and not infinite. 

The difference between a finite game vs an infinite game is that in an infinite game there’s unknown rules, players, objectives and timelines because no one has agreed upon them. No one wins in business. Business, like politics, is an infinite game. The sole objective of the game is to keep playing. How do you keep playing? You keep improving over time. 

A huge problem with our society, in business and in politics, is that we have leaders who don’t know the game they’re playing. They’re viewing things from a finite perspective. It’s most evident in phrases such as “we’re number one” or “we’re the best.” No they’re not. According to who’s definition? 

Let’s examine a company that played by finite rational in an infinite game. Remember Blockbuster? In case you don’t, it was a movie rental company. It was a household name and was poised to be Netflix by entering the streaming game in the 2000s. One executive certainly wanted that but his board disagreed. With the benefit of hindsight, you might be wondering how could that be? It’s because at the time late fees accounted for 12% of profits for Blockbuster. By switching to streaming, they’d lose out on that revenue because there’d be no DVDs to have to return. That 12% lose would only be temporary, as Netflix has shown, but something the Blockbuster board was unwilling to let go of. And long story short, they’re out of business. 

When you think about it, it’s no coincidence that this happens to companies. Why is it that taxi companies didn’t invent Uber? Or why haven’t hotels created AirBnB? It’s because companies are too concerned with maintaining the status quo, wrongfully thinking that it’ll preserve their dominance. That’s an example of finite thinking in an infinite game. 

Here’s a concrete example of someone who exercises existential flexibility—Steve Jobs. Apple was almost ready to release their computers when Jobs met up with some people who showed him a graphic interface. Immediately he went back to his team and said they needed to jump on that and make it part of their product. Many people told him it was impossible and that’d they’d not only miss the deadline but bankrupt the company. Steve said, “Better us than someone else.” 

The rest as they say is history. That decision changed the computer industry and technology landscape as we know it. Steve wasn’t concerned with the short term. He had a mission, or mindset if you want to call it that, for Apple to develop user friendly products to their customers to make their lives easier and better. That value still holds today and is one that doesn’t have an end. It’s ongoing. Hence, it’s part of the infinite game where the objective is to keep going, improving, developing, etc.  

So how come there’s so much discourse around us about being the best and so forth? Well, because as I mentioned, many people in high up positions aren’t aware of the game they’re playing. By definition, finite games are easier to understand and thus they’re perpetuated through sports metaphors and culture in general. Consider a song like Nelly’s “Number 1.” It’s a catchy tune that makes you feel good. But that’s because as a society we’re tried to simplify what success is and how it should be defined for people. This is bullshit. You’ll never be #1, nor should you want to be. Keep playing the game aka keep making content. When you do that, you’re successful.

In the past I’ve described the entertainment industry as a shaking tree. As long as you can hang on to that tree, you’ll do well. That’s a great analogy for the infinite game and while I may have talked about the infinite game primarily in terms of companies, this principle applies equally to us as individuals. The infinite game mindset is a lifestyle. By thinking and acting in these terms, you won’t be trying to shove a square peg in a round hole which means you won’t be as stressed out. I certainly shed a lot of anxiety once I learned about the infinite game. This is because I stopped putting so much pressure on the short term gains and focused on my long term goals and objectives. I had a mission for myself and that’s my guiding light every day. And when I see something that can help me achieve my mission easier, faster, smoother or perhaps better… well then I embrace it. Social media is an example of this. Rather than think of social media as good or bad, it is a tool which I use to help reach, inspire and teach people along with the other tools and tactics at my disposal. That’s the way you need to see it. 

The other way in which making the shift to an infinite mindset helps you is that you’ll stop being jealous of people. When you’re so desperate to be #1 you become vicious in your pursuits. It’s why there’s stereotypes about the LA lifestyle of people being overly narcissistic. Mind you, this is an upward trend throughout the country but it just happens to be more easily noticeable in artists. The point being though, you’ll no longer see people as threats. They may be your rivals but a rival is good. A rival is like a mirror that showcases your weaknesses so you can adjust and grow. Remember, the goal is to stay in the game. You can’t stay in the game if you don’t improve. 

Look at it from this perspective: over the next decade along, the ways in which we create and consume content will change drastically many times over. You need to be able to keep up. If you view it with finite terms, such as “I know how to do x, y and z and I’m great at those,” you’ll eventually be blindsided because a shift will happen sooner or later and you’ll have made yourself obsolete. Be a constant learner. That’s really what the infinite game is all about. 

Here’s where it gets trippy, at least to some people. The infinite game, aka your life or career, is comprised of finite games. Plainly stated, it means you should have deadlines for yourself. The difference is don’t beat yourself up if you miss a certain deadline. For example, my goal has been to write a novel and when I began the process I obviously had written nothing, hence I created timelines of when I wanted things to be done by. Boy, was I off on those. But, by doing that, it propelled me to knuckle down and get to work. Now I’m in the final phase of the novel! So do the same. Set deadlines… but don’t be harsh on yourself if you miss them because you’re still better off than when you began, right? And in the words of Obama, “better is good.” Simon Sinek thinks so. And I agree. 

Clear Tpm On Windows 11: How To Do It & Why Should You

Clear TPM on Windows 11: How to do it & Why Should You Create a backup before doing this

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Microsoft has stated that Windows 11 may only be used on computers that have TPM 2.0 installed.

Clearing it results in the loss of all TPM-associated keys and the information they protect.

Make sure to have a backup and recovery method for any data that is encrypted.

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INSTALL BY CLICKING THE DOWNLOAD FILE

Fix Windows 11 OS errors with Fortect:

This tool repairs common computer errors by replacing the problematic system files with the initial working versions. It also keeps you away from system errors, BSoDs, and repairs damages made by malware and viruses. Fix PC issues and remove viruses damage now in 3 easy steps:

Download and Install Fortect on your PC

Launch the tool and Start scanning to find broken files that are causing the problems

Fortect has been downloaded by

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readers this month.

Precautions to take before clearing TPM

NOTE

When you clear the TPM, you will lose all of the keys that have been established and associated with the TPM, as well as any data secured by those keys, such as a virtual smart card or a login PIN.

If you have any data that is secured or encrypted by the TPM, make sure you have a backup and recovery solution in place.

Remove the TPM from a device that you do not own, such as a work or school PC, unless you have been specifically ordered to do so by your IT administrator to do so.

If you have TPM 1.2 with Windows 10, version 1507 or 1511, and you wish to temporarily pause TPM activities, you can turn off the TPM by pressing the Power button. More information may be found in the section titled Turn off the TPM later in this article.

To clear the TPM, always utilize operating system functionality (such as chúng tôi rather than third-party software. It is not recommended to clear the TPM straight from the UEFI.

Because your TPM security hardware is a physical component of your computer, you may want to consult the manuals or instructions that came with your computer, or search the manufacturer’s website, before attempting to clear the TPM security hardware.

How do I clear TPM in Windows 11?

NOTE

You need to be an administrator on the device to be able to clear the TPM

1. Use the Windows Security app

In certain cases, you may be asked to confirm your decision to clear the TPM by the UEFI. All you will have to do is press a button while the computer is restarting.

After the PC restarts, your TPM will be automatically prepared for use by Windows 11.

2. Open the TPM MMC 3. Clear from the BIOS menu

After your computer has been restarted, the TPM adjustments will take effect.

How does Windows 11 use TPM?

Expert tip:

Does TPM slow down the computer?

When you boot a computer, TPM examines the state of the machine as well as the state of the computer’s environment to determine if the computer is secure.

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Why You Should Wait For The Iphone 5

I was wrong about the iPhone 4s. I said it would be great. I predicted it would be the best phone ever built. The truth, it turns out, is that the iPhone 4s kind of sucks.

There. I said it.

And I might be wrong again with the headline for this column. I don’t have much faith in Apple to get it right for the upcoming iPhone 5, either. The iPhone 4s has shaken my confidence in Apple’s legendary ability to bang out hit after hit.

My confident, bullish prediction about the iPhone 4s was based on Apple consistently improving on each new iPhone upgrade, and on the company’s stellar achievement in getting the iPad so right the first time, and so super-right the second time.

The iPhone 4s is the first stumble by Apple since the company launched the original iPhone in chúng tôi me, there’s only one reason to buy and own an iPhone 4s: Siri.

Apple’s Siri voice-based virtual assistant technology is flawed, but well worth it. More on that below. First, let me tell you why the iPhone 4s isn’t the phone Apple said it would be at their October 4 launch.

The iPhone 4s should be a better phone than the iPhone 4. Looking at the specs, and the list of new features and capabilities, it should be everything the iPhone is, plus better, faster and easier to use.

Some aspects of the iPhone are better. Siri is very useful. Some of the accessibility features are fantastic, even for people without disabilities.

Beyond that, the phone is harder and more annoying to use than the iPhone 4 was. Here’s why.

I haven’t run objective tests, but I do have some “anecdata” for you: It feels like it has half the battery life of the previous phone. Personally, I can’t get through an entire day without charging it.

Again, this is unscientific, but the battery problems appear to be caused primarily by iOS 5. The reason I say this is that my wife installed the upgrade on her iPhone 4, and that phone also took a huge hit in battery life.

Other reasons are likely to be that Siri is always loaded and ready and battery consuming when you use it. Find My Friends, which is Apple’s Latitude-like family-and-friend stalker application, is constantly hitting the network.

These are all nice features. But being able to turn the phone on is also a feature, one that becomes unavailable when the battery dies. The battery life creates problems for iPhone 4s users.

The camera was supposed to be great, the best camera in any cell phone. Sometimes it is. But usually, it’s not.

That last bit, the “reduced motion blur” is flat-out wrong. Apple claims that because they say the camera has image stabilization. But this feature is undetectable in real life.

If you’re outside on a sunny day, or are taking pictures of subjects that aren’t moving, the iPhone 4s takes really great pictures. But reduce the light even slightly, and with your subject in any kind of motion, and your pictures will be so blurry you’ll simply delete them.

Most of the pictures I take with this phone are unusable because of motion blur. I can’t detect any image stabilization in videos, either.

I took better pictures, on average, with the camera in the iPhone 4.

The yellow is turned way up. As a result, the screen is unappealing to look at. Blues look greenish. The overall appearance of the screen is somewhat nauseating to look at.

Some say the problem affects mostly black phones, and not white ones.

When I put my old iPhone 4 next to a new black 4s as well as a white one, it was clear that the white 4s was a little too yellow, and the black 4s was way too yellow. It was also clear that the iPhone 4 screen has much better color than the new phones.

You expect improvements with new phones, not regression. But that’s what you get with the iPhone 4s — especially the black one — a reduction in screen quality.

Personally, I intend to exchange my black iPhone 4s for a white one.

You Should Be Listening To Video Game Soundtracks At Work

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As I write these words, a triumphant horn is erupting in my ear over the rhythmic bowing of violins. In fact, as you read, I would encourage you to listen along—just search “Battlefield One.” I bet you’ll focus just a bit better with it playing in the background. After all, as a video game soundtrack it’s designed to have exactly that effect.

This is, by far, the best Life Pro Tip I’ve ever gotten or given: Listen to music from video games when you need to focus. It’s a whole genre designed to simultaneously stimulate your senses and blend into the background of your brain, because that’s the point of the soundtrack. It has to engage you, the player, in a task without distracting from it. In fact, the best music would actually direct the listener to the task.

Plenty of studies show that having some sound around you can help you focus, probably because it gives your subconscious something to tune out. It doesn’t have to focus on that coughing coworker or the occasional sound of doors closing, so you aren’t distracted by intermittent interruptions. Music seems to focus us the best, but not just any music. The latest #1 single is more likely to make you sing along and tap your toes than settle into your work day.

Silence, on the other hand, seems to make office workers slower and less proficient than their music-listening compatriots. Even some surgeons use music to get in the groove, and research suggests those who do perform operations more efficiently and with higher accuracy.

There isn’t a wealth of research on working while listening to video game soundtracks, specifically. But they do seem to check off several evidence-based boxes for creating an optimal work environment.

#1 No lyrics

Thanks to endless years of evolution, your brain is designed to detect humans in all forms. Your eyes have a propensity to see faces (even where there are none) and your ears are tuned to the frequency of human voices. This is why hearing someone talk is so distracting—your brain keeps trying to turn your attention to whoever is speaking instead of whatever you’re supposed to be doing. Bustling coffee shops don’t have this effect, because the voices blend together and stop being recognizable as language. But in an open office plan, human speech slips into your range of hearing just often enough to keep your mind wandering. In fact, a study on open offices found that broadcasting speech was the least conducive to productivity, while continuous background noise actually boosted performance.

Video game soundtracks rarely have human voices, and when they do, they’re generally singing sounds (ethereal oooohs, spooky aaaaaahs, and the like) rather than actual words.

The one strange exception is The Sims. Some of the radio stations in-game feature Sims talking, but since your virtual world citizens speak Simlish, your ears don’t really pick it up as language—because really, it isn’t. The soundtrack to The Sims is incredibly conducive to efficiency, probably because you’re supposed to play the game for hours doing tasks that are arguably kind of boring. You draw walls and place furniture, you tell your Sims to go to the bathroom, then you wait as they slowly eat the lasagna they made for dinner. Just try playing The Sims in silence. It’s kind of dull. But with that cheerful music in the background, you’re compelled to keep going.

#2 Relatively constant, low volume

Most music meant to engage you varies in volume, because, well, loud music is exciting and quiet music is soothing. Flipping between the two is an easy way to change the whole tone. But if a song suddenly turns up to 11 while you’re in the middle of writing a sentence, you’ll get distracted. That’s the opposite of what you want. You’re looking for no surprises. Smooth crescendos, which video games definitely tend to have, are noticeable without being totally distracting—they carry you on, which is exactly what you want.

Even too-loud ambient noise is distracting. One study found that loud sounds impair your ability to process information, whereas low or moderate background noise actually boosts productivity and creativity.

#3 Fairly fast-paced

Not all classical music is slow, but there’s a reason that it’s often relaxing: plenty of it is sweet and melodic. But you’re not looking for calming melodies. You need to stimulate your mind.

Video game music, almost by definition, can’t be soothing. No one will play straight through a 22-hour virtual plot (multiple times) if they’re chilled out. Composers need to create some sense of engagement and excitement—without making it exhausting.

It’s a bit like why rap and hip hop are great workout music—the rhythm and flow push you along and keep up your motivation. Actual scientific studies show that athletes perform better when given rhythmic music to listen to. Those genres also work well if you’re doing any sort of mindless, repetitive task, since they give your brain something else to focus on. But if your work involves any reading or writing, you need something without lyrics.

There are a few excellent playlists on Spotify that offer hours of music, or you can just listen to The Sims soundtrack endlessly on YouTube. Just don’t learn Simlish or you’ll never get anything done.

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