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This Week in Wellbeing Matters…

• Studies Show: The connections between music, mood, and memory, and how they all contribute to boosting your creative cognition

• Inspiring Inspiration: Quote from a recent newsletter by Harvard Medical School psychologist Susan David, Ph.D. on embracing our humanness to help avoid burnout

• Readers are Leaders: Links from Harvard Business Review, World at Work, Providence Business News and Inc.com

Studies Show…

I generally am a big podcast listener. I have several in my regular rotation and they range from current events/news/politics to comedy to sports (mostly college basketball) and even a new one I caught up on during a recent flight called Murder in HR which is funny and entertaining. But once and a while I’m not in the mood to listen to a podcast and I reach for the Spotify app to find some music. Once I scroll past the recent requests that my 4 year old likes on the way to school (currently Shake It Off Radio) I often find myself going down a nostalgia path and listening to music that I was really into in my teen years. On a recent rainy day I fired up the Sticks and Stones album from New Found Glory that they released in 2002 for my ride home after dropping the kids off at school. I was in 8th grade when that came out and I have vivid memories of listening on my portable CD player over and over again. My Friends Over You is just so good. I’m listening to it right now as I type this sentence. Maybe it’s helping me be more creative in this edition of Wellbeing Matters. That’s possible says a study done by the Psychology of Music. Researchers saw greater creativity from participants after listening to music and enhanced semantic memory retrieval which is fancy for remembering general knowledge concepts like grammar and math.

Next time you are in a podcast rut or you can’t stand to turn on talk radio on the car, give music a shot. I highly recommend taking the extra step of tuning in to some songs that have nostalgia attached. It isn’t really possible for me to listen to podcast or music a ton during the work day because of all the meetings I have, but I have been trying to do more music in the car.

What are your nostalgic songs/albums that you might turn to when the mood strikes? Reply to this email or comment below.

Inspiring Inspiration

Readers are Leaders

• Harvard Business Review: 4 Ways to Make Work More Meaningful

• World at Work: Making a Business Case for DEI Amid Concerns of Legal Challenges

• Providence Business News: Survey: Many U.S. workers optimistic about financial future despite feeling inflation impact

• Inc.com: Why Companies Need to Focus on Their Human Potential

What did you think of this edition?

Hit reply and let me know what you liked, didn’t like or what you want to hear more about. I read all your emails and comments.

Thanks and have a great week of wellbeing!

These comments are my own, not those of my employer.