Category: Productivity & Energy

Like many people, you probably select music to listen to based on your mood. When you’re happy, upbeat music is a natural choice; when you’re stressed, low-key, relaxing music tends to be the most appealing. While this approach makes sense, it isn’t optimal–at least not from a business standpoint. Rather than matching music to your current mood, you should select music based on your immediate goals. In the business world, this approach can boost productivity, enhance concentration and enhance your capabilities in many other exciting ways.

Music for productivity? Listen to the right music at the right time with these tips. CLICK TO TWEET

While listening to music is overwhelmingly done for fun, it can also be a useful tool for business professionals. Keep these tips in mind to enhance your ability to reach new heights of success in your career.

Executive Summary:

1. Preparing for a Stressful Situation

When getting ready for important presentations, crucial meetings, intense negotiations or other stressful work-related situations, try blasting some motivational music. What’s motivational to one person may leave another cold, but certain genres and songs are pretty universal in this regard. Songs like “Tubthumping” by Chumbawumba and “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor are just a few examples. There are also plenty of motivational playlists available online.

2. Concentrating on a Project or Other Work

Playing music is useful in virtually all work-related situations. One exception, however, is when you really need to concentrate intently on a project or other types of work. This is especially true if you are working solo. In this situation, you’re usually better off not listening to music at all. If you are used to doing so, however, you should stick with unfamiliar songs, instrumental music, and other ambient tunes. The goal here is to let your subconscious absorb the music while your conscious brain focuses on the task at hand.

3. Completing Repetitive, Mindless Tasks

Even high-powered executives get stuck completing repetitive, mind-numbingly boring tasks from time to time. This type of work seems to drag on forever, so it helps to play some fast-paced, upbeat music in the background to pass the time. Unlike with other types of work, there is no harm in playing music that distracts you in this situation. Look for feel-good music that you can sing along to and have fun with. Whether it’s something that you’re already familiar with or a special playlist of feel-good songs that you’ve found online, playing fun, lighthearted music while completing boring busywork can make a huge difference.

4. Getting Going for the Day

As a busy professional, you probably burn the candle at both ends. This often means feeling burned out and exhausted even first thing in the morning. The best solution for this is to take an extended vacation. The next best thing–and the more practical option–is to pump yourself up with some fast-paced, energetic music. Nothing can clear the morning doldrums like jamming to some of your favorite upbeat music. It’s the perfect way to set the stage for a productive and positive day. Create a playlist of your favorite upbeat songs to listen to in the morning, or download some playlists from the internet. Suddenly, mornings don’t seem so bad.

5. Focusing While in a Distracting Environment

An ideal work environment is quiet, comfortable and free of distractions. Unfortunately, we don’t always have the luxury of getting work done under such circumstances. Busy executives are often on the go, and this usually means having to catch up on work while on a train, on a plane or in other distracting environments. A great pair of headphones and the right music can be a lifesaver under these circumstances. As for which type of music to listen to, serene, relaxing tunes tend to work best. Have a playlist of such music queued up and ready to go whenever you will be out and about for the day.

6. Exercising for Physical and Mental Health

Exercise is one of the best stress relievers out there, so it’s important for working professionals to squeeze at least a little into each day. Workouts can be grueling when you are consumed with distracting thoughts about work. Music helps to take your mind off of such matters, allowing you to lose yourself in sound and movement. The best music to listen to while breaking a sweat is something that is fast-paced but familiar. Listening to songs that you know and love while getting in your workout makes the time fly too, ensuring that you reach your workout goal without any trouble.

7. Unwinding

Like most working professionals, you probably prefer to leave your work at work. However, it can be difficult to let go of the workday even after arriving home. The right music helps to melt away those concerns, allowing you to kick back, relax and enjoy yourself while off the clock. Upon arriving home, cue up some slow-paced tunes. Aim for something that has a tempo of about 60 beats per minute. Classical music works well under these circumstances, and there’s a wealth of it to choose from. Nature sounds and other types of ambient noise also help a lot. By the time your listening session is over, you’ll have rid yourself of the day’s work stresses and will be ready to enjoy life at home.

From the minute that you wake up until the time that you arrive home from work, the right soundtrack can make your workday unfold a whole lot easier. By being a bit strategic about the kind of music that you play and when you play it, you can more easily put your best, most professional foot forward from the second you walk through the office door until the moment that you walk back out.

What other strategies would you add to this list? Please, share your comments!

Executive Summary:

Are You a Typical Business Executive?

How much time do you spend sitting every day? You sit at your desk to read and write. You sit in meetings. You sit to review orders, requests, and P&L reports.

If you travel you are sitting in taxis, on planes, trains, in lounges on layovers.

Yes, you do walk, some, around the office, to the meeting room, to and from your car.

But really, how much of your day involves walking?

As a successful businessperson, you have plenty to do and too many demands on your time. You still can find time to get the exercise you need to be healthier and live longer.

Have you ever tried working out at work? We propose 11 ideas to get started.

The fact is sitting is killing you. A study in the  Annals of Internal Medicine looked at 47 other studies of people with “sedentary lifestyles,” i.e., they spent a lot of time sitting.

The Toronto researchers came to a serious conclusion, “Prolonged sedentary time was independently associated with deleterious health outcomes regardless of physical activity.”

The  World Health Organization  says,

Sitting too much is the 4th leading cause of preventable early death in the world. CLICK TO TWEET

We understand that your work requires you to be at a desk. We know you don’t have time to join a gym. We have strategies, tips and advice to help you get the most from your work day and still get the exercise you need.

Since you are a busy and successful person, we’re not going to waste your time. Here are the Books you need to arrive at the correct decision.

Let’s put this another way. Sedentary lifestyles increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. “For people who sit most of the day, their risk of heart attack is about the same as smoking,” said Martha Grogan, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic.

“Today, our bodies are breaking down from obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, depression and the cascade of health ills and everyday malaise that come from what scientists have named sitting disease,” said James Levine, MD, Ph.D. and a noted expert on the problems with sedentary lifestyles.

US News & World Report took a hard look at “sitting disease.” The problem is muscles need to be used regularly and often. Sitting for long periods leads to a host of health problems.

They include:

• Diabetes

• High blood pressure

• Increased risk of strokes

The article also says there is good news:

For every hour sitting at your desk, two minutes of light physical activity are enough to overcome the problem. CLICK TO TWEET

Two minutes of walking around the office while you are on the phone is all you need.

What Can You Do?

Getting the exercise you need is easier than you may believe. Don’t sit for more than an hour. Get up.

The Express says 5 minutes of walking can undo arterial damage done by sitting for three hours. The study referenced in the article also points to the problem. Slack muscles don’t pump blood as effectively as muscles that are moving.

8 Tips to Sit Less in the Office to Stay Healthy:

1. Get a Desk Exercise Bike.

Fitting perfectly into your work style, a desk exercise bike help you burn calories without leaving the desk and lose weight.

If you have to meet, have standing meetings. This guarantees the meetings will be shorter and more productive too. BONUS! Save time and get more done!

3. Get a Standing Desk for Your Office.

Arrange it so you can stand and sit. Authority Nutrition says standing burns more calories than sitting. And, it makes your leg muscles move, improving blood circulation.

It also increases your mental activity and makes you feel more energetic at work.

4. Get up Every 50 Minutes or so and Walk Around for a Minute.

Walk to the water cooler. Walk to the window. Walk to the copier.

5. Get a Pedometer.

Commit to 12,000 steps a day. For the average person, 2,000 steps is a mile. Work your way up. This includes walking around the office, walking outside the office and walking at home.

Even better. Get a fitness band and gain a clearer picture of your physical activity.

If you are only going a few flights, walk instead of the elevator. Going upstairs is excellent exercise and, depending on the elevator, may be faster.

7. Any Time You Are on the Phone, Stand.

A phone call gives you the perfect excuse to get up. Standing also means you won’t be on the line nearly as long. More time saved! Just Stand, an organization aimed at getting people out of their chairs says, standing all day is not a good idea. You do need to sit to rest or for heavy concentration.

8. At least Once a Day, Leave the Office for a 15-Minute Walk.

Even a short walk like this improves brain function. That means you are sharper when you return to work.

Get More Help

Not sure what else to do? We’re here for you. Best of all, you can keep this just between us. Sign up for our free executive fitness advice newsletter and get tips to maximize your workout and maximize your work at the same time.

It drops right into your inbox. You can read and put the tips into effect.

Do you have another opinion about too much sitting in the office? Or do you use other strategies to avoid the negative consequences of sitting too much? Feel free to share your comments with us.