Music to Turn your Day Around

The creation of the internet has brought about a variety of music platforms. You can create a playlist of videos on YouTube. Select an artist you love and have a playlist automatically created for you on Pandora. Of course, there is iTunes, where you can purchase music and have it on a multitude of devices.

My personal favorite is Spotify. I created an account about a year ago, but I didn't use it much. It is just such a great option to have access to all the music you could think of, and be able to make playlists with it. I didn't have Spotify Premium until a couple of weeks ago because I didn't see a need for it. They happened to be running a promotion for $0.99 for three months, so I decided to try it. I love it! Do I think that it's worth $9.99 per month? No, but it will be a great improvement while I have a bunch of road trips this summer.

I work in the customer service industry. I love my job, but the clients can sometimes be a little bit difficult to deal with. I can have a conversation with one person who is so wonderful and grateful for the support the company offers, immediately followed by a customer yelling at me. I can come in first thing in the morning and see over 100 emails that I need to answer in a timely manner. Sometimes it can get overwhelming.

For a while, I couldn't work with music in the background. Growing up as a dancer, I would start choreographing or reliving old dances. It was only a couple of months ago that I realized just how much the right playlist could make awful customers seem bearable.

There are a couple of different directions that I go with this. I have a "Wooosahhh" playlist to calm me down when customers get a little out of control. This playlist contains everything from Needtobreathe (my overall favorite) to Parachute. It also includes a couple of my favorite cover or a cappella groups. John Butler Trio is also in the playlist. His song "Ocean" is the ultimate song to relax you. It has just enough calming with enough music to get your energy back.

The other avenue I go is by artist. I love listening to Celtic Woman. I had found a few of their songs mostly though their rendition of "Carol of the Bells". If you shuffle their music on Spotify, it has a great mix of upbeat music with calming music. Plus, it definitely helps that their music isn't all in English, so I don't pay too much attention to the lyrics (not as distracting).

If it's just a general day, I have a playlist with such a hodge podge of music. It's almost absurd. It has different Disney songs, new rap and pop music, even some of those calming songs. When I find a new song, I generally just add it to this playlist, only to be later added and adjusted to the "proper" playlist.

In the last week, I decided to go back to my "roots", so I gathered all of my favorite Broadway musicals together in one playlist. I've been blessed to have seen a few (not to mention the number of YouTube videos available). My days at work have improved greatly. It's the perfect mix between uplifting music and getting to create and relive the shows (without feeling the need to choreograph).

I am always looking to discover new music. What is your favorite playlist to listen to when you work? Is there a certain song that you always listen to when you're feeling a certain emotion?

Comment below and share your thoughts!