#NowPlaying: #WerkBranch: Cheer Up Music for the Office

By Kyle Christensen:

Feeling down now that the holiday season is over? We’re sad it’s gone too, but we’re also glad. Why? We created the perfect playlist to get you pumped up and ready to take on the new year in our next #WerkBranch series playlist! Listen to your new favorite playlist to crank up at work and get cheered up as we move through January. Don’t forget to check back next month because we roll out playlists monthly.

“Doesn’t everyone turn to music when they’re in need of some cheering up? I honestly couldn’t think of just one artist or genre who I turn to consistently. Sometimes I need some metal vocals to scream alongside. Sometimes I need something electric with keyboards and a dance beat. And other times I need slow and soulful. Our office playlist definitely turned into a hodgepodge of it all!”

– Marissa Litty, Corporate Communications at Red Branch Media (@MarissaLitty)

Office Cheer-Up Tip #1: Specific Snacks

Did you know there are certain foods and snacks that can boost your mood? Get ready to add these snacks to your lunchbox so you can get happy while you work! Thanks to a recent article from NDTV Convergence titled, “Food and Mood: 10 Foods That Can Cheer You Up on a Bad Day,” there are 10 foods you can try right now. Here’s their list:

• Honey: Which helps by, “…boosting energy production in the brain.”
• Cherries: Which helps to, “…work like painkillers and make you feel relaxed.”
• Fatty Fish: Which helps to a, “…reduced risk of depression.”
• Beetroot: Which helps by, “…boosting your mood.”
• Tomatoes: Which helps in, “…producing mood-boosting neurotransmitters…” and “…regulating your mood.”
• Chocolate: Which helps by, “…reducing high levels of stress hormones.” If you eat Dark Chocolate, it will, “…make you feel good and is also known to temporarily block feelings of pain and sadness.”
• Spinach: Which helps by, “…balancing our mood.”
• Bananas: Which helps to, “…keep you at ease throughout the day.”
• Walnuts: Which helps to, “…keep one’s mood steady by regulating the blood sugar levels.”
• Coconut: Which helps to, “…diminish anxiety and slows our heart rate.”

Office Cheer-Up Tip #2: Pictures

Typical pictures of loved ones at your desk. Yes, it sounds cliché, but it works people. According to the article, “SAD at work? Five tips to boost your mood at your job this winter” from the Dragons’ Den blog on CBC/Radio-Canada, they mentioned in part of their statistic that, “A 2012 study from the UK demonstrated that people who looked at personal photos enjoyed an 11 percent boost in their happiness and a 22 percent improvement in relaxation…”  That’s a big boost anyone can enjoy at work, so gather some photos, frame them and bring them to work!

How to Find Us on Spotify

There are a few ways to find us on Spotify. First, you’ll need a Spotify account. You can do that by going to www.spotify.com and creating a free account. Unless ads drive you nuts, a free account is all you’ll need. After you’ve got your account, go to our page and click follow. By following us, you’ll get email notifications each time we put out a new playlist. We’ll be creating fresh lists for you each month, so you can listen to them as soon as we publish them! Now go download the desktop application for your computer, the app for your phone or stream music online by taking a listen to our playlist here.

It’s easy to get in a slump after the holidays, but it’s also easy to get back up. Follow these easy tips to give yourself a little boost. To take your happiness to the next level, add THIS playlist to your workday! We’re sure that it will help you out.

Missed our other playlists? Check them out here:

• Brancher Top 5
• Red Branch Holiday Playlist
• Motivation for the New Year
• Love & Heartbreak
• Guilty Pleasures
• Nostalgia Overload
• Instrumental Focus for Writers & Coders
• Summer Poolside Playlist
• Your Favorite Covers
• Welcome to the Team
• RBM Does Karaoke
• Ultimate Halloween Party Playlist
• #WerkBranch: Music for Work
• #WerkBranch: Music for Brainstorming

Kyle Christensen

Kyle is the Brand Director at Red Branch Media.

Kyle leads our Graphic Design Department at Red Branch Media. His ability to manage incoming tasks, collaborate with the design team, hit deadlines and keep our file storage system well-organized has helped to shape the design department clients love today. While he’s away from the branch, he spends his time playing drums, video games, cranking the latest emo, pop-punk and screamo songs on Spotify, drinking local Omaha brews, and enjoying life with his wife. Kyle has a BASA with a Concentration in Graphic Design and a Minor in Art History from UNO.