In last week’s Wellness Wednesday post, we shared some ideas for stretching at your desk in Take Breaks to Stretch. Stretching is a great thing you can do at work to relieve pain and stress while increasing your productivity in just a few minutes. This week, we have another workday stress-buster and productivity enhancer than you can incorporate for just a few minutes to reap the benefits – music!

Maybe the Seven Dwarfs were on to something when they touted “Whistle While You Work”. It certainly seemed to make their work seem more joyful and less, well, like work. Studies have found that listening to music at work can help lower blood pressure and stress levels and improve your mood and productivity! So create a playlist that makes you happy and listen for a few minutes before you dive into your next task. Or keep your iPod on and ear buds in and listen while you work, some people find that background music can improve their overall focus. Studies show that if the music is very familiar, it can serve as “background noise”, but if its new to you, it might be more of a distraction, so consider your selections wisely.

Do you listen to music at work? Does it matter what type of task or work you are trying to accomplish? What are you favorite productivity boosting tunes? We want to know!