When Ms. O. is under a lot of stress – so much so that she would have to do everything at the same time – she listens to songs by Justin Bieber. Or Katy Perry. Her colleagues scurry around Mrs. O., they ask and complain and rattle with their coffee cups, but Mrs. O. does not hear them, she only hears “Oh Yeahs” and “Aaw Nos” and rhythms that flow as smoothly as Mrs. O.’s work should, if she did not have such a time pressure. Ms. O. doesn’t particularly like Justin Bieber or Katy Perry, but their insignificance helps her.
When she’s in the home office, Ms. O. sometimes thinks of the Lofi Girl sitting at her desk in a cramped attic room. The Lofi Girl is not a real girl, but the mascot of a music livestream that rarely has less than 25,000 listeners. All over the world, people love the Lofi Girl for her unwavering concentration. A beautiful city landscape, a fluffy cat, a brightly lit laptop screen-the Lofi Girl will not be distracted by all this. It just keeps working with slow pop sounds on your ears. Music, the Lofi Girl knows, reduces stress.