The economy is tanking, and your 401k is diving like Greg Louganis. The work environment has become an increasingly barren wasteland, wherein cutbacks include rationing water for the cooler. Main Street sounds more like a Bob Seger song than it looks like Norman Rockwell's paintings. It's a lean job market, which means you might be stuck at your current job a little longer than you'd hoped.
Still, unless you're breaking rocks on the chain gang all day, you can still make the best of your work environment. Start with the cubicle. Turn off the fluorescent overheads and get some indirect incandescent light. Hang a picture of someplace you'd rather be, especially if you don't have a window to the outside world. Plug in some headphones, use your imagination and check out these segues into a world of jazz adventure.
For more entries in NPR Music's Listen While You Work series, click here. Get to know jazz every week with Take Five: A Weekly Jazz Sampler by clicking here.
Copyright 2008 WBGO
