HUMOR THAT WORKS 10 Benefits of Using Humor in the Workplace 1. Humor Beats Stress. If stress is the villain, humor is the superhero. It relaxes muscles, lowers blood pressure, and improves the immune system. 2. Humor Improves Health. 10-15 minutes of hearty laughter can burn as many calories as 10–minutes on a stationary bike and may even be linked to lower risk of heart disease. 3. Humor Increases Efficiency. Humor in the workplace has been shown to reduce absenteeism, increase company loyalty, prevent burnout, and increase productivity (all good things for an employer, but also for a rockstar employee like you). 4. Humor Develops Creativity. Humor is highly correlated with both creativity and intelligence. A dose of humor releases serotonin in the brain which improves focus, increases objectivity, and improves overall brainpower—helping to enhance creativity and improve problem solving skills. 5. Humor Expands Learning. Humor can improve information recall and long–term retention and can make boring material more manageable (I’m looking at you, Project Management training). 6