I put (Classical Music) in the title to this, as home based business tips and the like will definitely be an ongoing thing here, and I should differentiate them.

Ok, today’s home business tip has to do with music (classical music, obviously).

About four or five years ago, I got an XM radio for my house. At first, being a fan of “classic rock” I tuned it to the “Deep Tracks” station, which played some of the more obscure and forgotten songs in rock. And while it was a good station (I still listen to it in my truck from time to time), I found it very hard to work to.

In fact, I found almost any music distracting.

This was odd to me, because in every job I ever had, I always had a radio going with no problem. Maybe on my own I care a lot more about the “work”? I don’t know, but I do know the radio was distracting. It made me a little sad, as I bought this XM radio (and prepaid a three year subscription) for work.

But this is XM (now Sirius/XM) - there are over 100 channels of music… there must be something that suits.

And there was - classical. Classical music fit perfectly into the background.

So I started having the classical channel on everyday… and you know what happened? My workday, in an overall sense, got a little better. Not like I’m singing from the rafters or anything (now there’s a site!), but yes, I noticed my overall mood and demeanor improved with classical music.

With that in mind, I experimented some - my setup is the XM receiver, hooked to a wireless speaker system. I have two speakers in my office, and I keep the volume at a nice “background” level. But I can add speakers to the wireless setup, so I bought two more, and put them upstairs… so essentially, we have classical music as a background to our home-life as well.

This will sound a little silly, but Maryellen and I both feel this enhances our lives. Again, I’m not talking profoundly, but it’s definitely noticeable. Bottom line: our lives are a little bit better better with classical music as a backing track to our day to day stuff. And it’s so non-intrusive that you can just leave it on if you are watching TV, talking on the phone, etc. 

Now, I want to stress that we’re not big fans or anything - I wouldn’t know Chopin’s Eternal Sonata #9 from “Chopin’s Afternoon Snack and Nap” . That’s somewhat the beauty of the satellite radio - you need not be a fan or anything. Just set it to the station and let it play.

I have found in the last year that I can change it up some - Jazz makes a pretty nice background too, and I actually prefer Jazz when I am writing books. But for day to day work (and life), it’s classical.

I heartily recommend it, both in buisness, and in life. It will make your life better - I promise you.