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Calming

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Everybody's job is hard and for the majority of people, nobody wants to be at their job. Given the choice most people would love to stay at home watching television, rather than having to work for eight hours a day in a place they can't stand. Most jobs are tedious, stressful and very much something that we are doing because we have to to them. So given that most people don't like their jobs, what can employers do to help make the burden a little easier? The answer is simple. Play music for their employees.

I have worked in a number of supermarkets and other retail places. They can be quite difficult places to work. For the most part, you are standing all day, unless you happen to be sitting on a checkout, and have to put up with severe back pain from the most uncomfortable seats in the world. On top of your body being in an unnatural position for eight hours straight, you then have to try and cope with irate, rude customers, that seem to think just because you're wearing a name badge, they can treat you like absolute rubbish. Then of course you have your manager barking orders at you, and telling you to do the task you've just done differently, even though he was the one who told you to do it that way in the first place.

This can all add up to a genuinely stressful environment and by the end of the day you can be left feeling washed out, down and not wanting to return to work the next day. Though it may seem simplistic, music playing in the background of your work environment can help to keep your mood balanced. I have found that after a customer has complained about something, and I have dealt with it, as politely as I could of course, walking away and focusing on the music that is playing helps me to forget about what just happened, and so I can go back to work more productively.

Music playing at work of course has to follow some rules. It can not be played too loudly. This will put customers off, and they will rush through the shop and vow never to come again. Think of each time you walk into a music store, and they have some insane music blaring out and it is actually hurting your ears. As you try to concentrate on what you went in there for, do you sometimes think, this isn't worth it and walk out? I know I do. Loud music will also give the employees a headache, adding to their stress levels, and damaging their sense of wellbeing.

The music must be current, well known music. In many stores now they have taken to a system of cost cutting. That is, that

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