Did you know that listening to music has an amazing stress-reduction effect? And guess what? Even heavy metal music can produce the same beneficial, mind-soothing effects as other, shall we say, kindler, gentler music.
They key to using music as a stress-reducer is listening to music that you love. You see music impacts a person’s serotonin levels in a very positive way. And research has shown that music was found to reduce patients’ pain during dental procedures. Many experts suggest that it is the rhythm of the music or the beat that has the calming effect on us although we may not be very conscious about it. They point out that when we were babies in our mothers’ womb, we probably were influenced by the heart beat of our mother. Since we respond to soothing music at later stages in life, we could be subconsciously associating it with the safe, relaxing, protective environment provided by our mothers. So Rock on, dude. Crank it up!! Listen to music while you are getting ready for work. Listen to it on your daily commute. Sing your little heart out and have fun! Then, when you get to work, listen some more. But instead of cranking it up, crank it down. Even very low levels of music have these very cool stress-reduction qualities.
Molly Luffy, MBA, owner of Work Ethic Wizard, dedicated to helping managers regain their sanity and employees survive and thrive in todays corporation. Author of Super-Charge Your Promotion Quotient: 225 Success Strategies for the New Professional. http://www.workethicwizard.com/default.cfm
