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Music

Put on one or two songs you like and actually listen. Music reliably lowers stress a little in trials, though most studies didn't test a quick break between tasks.

Short answer

Put on one or two songs you like, and listen to them properly instead of using them as background. A large meta-analysis found that music lowers stress by a small-to-moderate amount. But the studies don’t tell you whether a single song between tasks is enough. Pick music for the reason you need it: calmer music to settle, livelier music to wake up.

How to do it

  1. Decide what you want. Calmer, or more awake? This decides what you play.
  2. Pick one or two songs you already like. Music you chose yourself is a good default.
  3. Listen, don’t multitask. Headphones on if you can. Close your eyes or look out of a window. Leave the email alone for one song.
  4. When it ends, stop. Go back to what you were doing, or follow it with a short walk.

Make a short playlist in advance. Five calm songs and five lively ones. When you need them, you won’t waste five minutes choosing.

If a song is tied to a bad memory or makes you brood, skip it. Music can sometimes make a low mood heavier, not lighter.

When to use it

  • After a stressful meeting or call, before you start the next thing.
  • On the commute home, to mark the end of the workday.
  • When you need energy for a dull task, like cleaning or admin.
  • While cooking or doing the dishes, as a small thing to look forward to.

Evidence

A 2020 review pooled 104 randomized trials with 9,617 people. Music interventions lowered stress by a moderate amount on psychological measures like feeling tense or anxious, and by a smaller amount on body measures like heart rate, blood pressure and stress hormones [1]. The summary doesn’t say how long people listened or where, so it’s unclear how well the result applies to a one-song break at work.

In everyday life, a study followed 55 university students through a normal week and an exam week. They reported less stress after listening to music, and the effect was strongest when they listened in order to relax. Calm music lowered a marker of stress activity and lively music raised it [2]. This was a small study of students, and it tracked what people did rather than assigning music, so it can’t prove cause.

Not every result is positive. In a trial with 60 women, listening to relaxing music before a stressful task didn’t make them feel less stressed during it, and their stress hormone response was actually highest in the music group. Their bodies did settle faster afterwards [3]. Music may be more useful for winding down after stress than for bracing for it.

Rated Some. A big meta-analysis of randomized trials supports a stress-lowering effect, but results differ by what was measured, one trial found little effect on feeling stressed, and the quick-break version is barely studied.

Try this week

Make two short playlists today: one to calm down, one to wake up. Use one of them at least once a day this week, listening to a full song without doing anything else. Note which situations it helped with.

Sources

  1. [1]de Witte M, Spruit A, van Hooren S, et al. (2020). Effects of music interventions on stress-related outcomes: a systematic review and two meta-analyses. Health Psychology Review. Systematic review / meta-analysis
  2. [2]Linnemann A, Ditzen B, Strahler J, et al. (2015). Music listening as a means of stress reduction in daily life. Psychoneuroendocrinology. Observational study
  3. [3]Thoma MV, La Marca R, Brönnimann R, et al. (2013). The effect of music on the human stress response. PLoS One. Randomized trial

Topics: Music, Stress, Mood, Relaxation

Sources checked 4 October 2026. Spot a mistake? Tell us.