Agency careers have always walked a line between glamour and grind. Long hours and tight deadlines are a package deal with the added fun and adrenaline of working in media. When stress and pressure begins to outweigh the reward you take from your job however, it’s important to understand that what you feel is normal. Feeling tense or overwhelmed are often symptoms or the result of short-term pressures. With this in mind, having the tools to combat stress in a smart way should be part of every agency staffer’s toolbox.
A key part of taking care of yourself in an agency environment is to identify and understand changes in your behaviour and routine. Recognising how stress changes your actions and attitude can help you catch and mitigate its effects before things get tricky. Everyone exhibits stress in different ways – for some their breathing may quicken, or sleeping poorly, or they may skip meals, or even snack more. Others may wring their hands, bite their nails, become irritable or turn to alcohol or other substances. For agency staff in particular, alcohol can form a significant part of the job. The social aspect of boozy client lunches and after-work drinks are part of what makes a media career so fun. But if you find yourself drinking more, or more regularly, it might be time to take a step back and think of healthier ways to blow off steam.
As an individual, here are some tips that can help you stay on top of the day-to-day stress of a media career:
Check in with your breathing
If things at work have you feeling stressed or anxious, your breathing may be shallow and frequent. When this happens, take a moment to focus on breathing deeply. Doing this will send a message to your brain that it’s ok to relax. Breathing deeply helps counter the ‘fight-or-flight’ response.
Annoyingly, we experience fight-or-flight because our bodies often have a hard time distinguishing between the stress brought on by deadlines and emails, versus the stress we used to feel knowing predators were nearby – and perhaps in the cut-throat world of media, “predators” can seem like a very real thing. Recognising the feeling of stress as a physical response rather than a confirmed reality can put things in perspective. Taking a moment to breathe, and focus on nothing but your breathing, helps rebalance the physical impacts of whatever pressures you might be feeling.
Prioritise and organise
While it may seem obvious, a ‘To Do’ list is one of the most beneficial ways to organise your day. The benefits are twofold. Firstly, it allows you to map out and prioritise your day, giving you a path and destination. Secondly, it rewards you with a feeling of progress when you tick actions items off. Keeping track of the progress you have already made in a day, irrespective of whatever new tasks might arrive, will help you establish a feeling of control over the events around you. It is also helpful often to “tick off” the easy tasks first to create a sense of being on top of things.
Where possible, take your lunch away from your desk
Regularly eating lunch at your desk, or skipping lunch, can make you feel like you only exist to work, which often impacts on your mental wellbeing. Taking time to focus on eating, and if possible, taking in some fresh air and the outdoors, is an act of self-care that has been shown to actually increase your productivity.
If you’re really feeling the weight of your clients on your shoulders, ever a five to ten minute walk without the constant buzz or ring of your phone can help you switch off and come back refreshed.
Take advantage of any wellness programs your company offers
Most companies offer wellness initiatives to help their employees feel healthy and valued at work. While agencies do this in part as a measure to reduce staff churn, there are also clear benefits for individuals. Anything from lunch time yoga, after work boot camp or taking up that offer of counselling may give you the boost you need to feel closer to your colleagues or in a better frame of mind on the job.
Tonic Health Media offers wellbeing programs and initiatives to agency staff. Our ‘Psych Up’ sessions discuss mental health and are available to agencies free of charge as part of our Healthy Living series, designed to get agencies involved in wellness and health of their staff.
Focus on the basics – exercise, diet and sleep
In unpredictable working days, focus on the things that fall within your sphere of influence. Try as much as possible to keep your routine. A deliberate approach to exercise, diet and sleep can give a sense of structure that helps restore balance to your outlook. Research shows that 7-8 hours of sleep a night, every night, is one of the most effective measures in restoring balance in individual wellness.
Daily exercise, even if only a 10-15 minute walk (to or from your train or office is a good start) will improve your sleep and fitness levels. Eating three meals a day (instead of skipping breakfast or lunch when you’re busy) also helps maintain a healthy weight and maintain your energy levels during long days. Obviously, all of these elements together, help regulate your emotional and mental responses to whatever your workday brings.
Managers and HR departments play a key role in recognising stress in their staff. Ideally, combating stress would come from both sides of the equation – staff having personal mechanisms to help them stay relaxed and content, and agencies having programs that help staff feel heard and understood in the workplace.
By Dr Matthew Cullen, MD and CEO of Tonic Health Media