The Ultimate Guide to Effective Stress Management for PR Professionals

Introduction

Managing stress as a PR professional is not new to me.

In my current role, teams are working around the clock to open a new cruise port in The Bahamas. One month last year I only spent 5 days at home in between travel. Often, my work day goes well past 5:00 PM and I use Sundays to stay ahead of the work in the week ahead. When I do get a break, I try to use it as rest, not doing some of the basic things that adults should do like clean, socialize or run errands. Honestly, the idea that we should be able to balance hectic work lives, exercise, date, socialize with friends, keep a perfect household, do good deeds, save the world…etc. etc…does not reflect many of our lives.

As a moment of transparency, just a few days before my birthday, my doctor was worried enough about my blood pressure that I was sent home with a monitor. It was a bit of a wake-up call for me that something outside of my job required my attention.

Often, as PR, strategic communications and marketing professionals, because we are required in the day-to-day of our organization, we have strategic responsibilities and often lead in a crisis, we forget that taking care of ourselves is ultimately taking care of the organizations we work for.

This article will give you tips on managing stress as a PR professional.

Understanding the Unique Stresses in PR

In our industry, we face unique stressors due to the type of work we do. Some of these stressors are and are not limited to:

Media Scrutiny and Public Perception: We’re under constant demand to maintain a positive image for our organizations. Negative press, negative comments, or anything of that nature requires us to always be quick and strategic in our responses.
Crisis Management: Crises can hit at any moment. As the lead, it is often our responsibility to address the conflict and create plans for the organization to do so. As crises don’t have a proper timing feature, this is sometimes outside of working hours. The need to respond promptly adds a level of pressure to our already heavy workload. For more on how to manage a crisis, view this article.
Uncertainty in the industry: Our industry can change in the blink of an eye and we need to be on it. Similar to how AI swept across multiple industries, forcing us to learn to work with it or be overwhelmed by it. As comms professionals, keeping updated on the new trends and uncertainties helps us to stay ahead of the curve. But it can also be stressful having to continuously learn and evolve to stay competitive.

Tips to Manage Stress as a PR Professional

Knowing all of this and experiencing the neverending stressors that are part and parcel of the job, I’ve had to learn some tricks to stay balanced and healthy.

Plan Ahead: Make sure you have your strategies, resources and your workflows in place. Early thinking about anything that requires more than one step will increase efficiency and reduce frustration. Not having a plan in place means you end up spending more time crafting and less time executing.
Perfect your systems: Systems make life easier for comms professionals. Ensure that the systems that make sense for your organization are responsive and get things to where they need to be. This means ensuring your internal partners understand these systems and the roles they plan in getting work done.
Delegate: You can't do everything on your own. Sometimes as communicators, we desire to control every piece of the process. But we have to be able to rely on our team members to do important things. This requires trust and that can be difficult, but if you can’t trust your internal partners you have a bigger problem.
Take a Break: You have to be able to walk away from your work and prevent burnout by taking a breath, break, and pause. Whether that’s getting up from your desk and taking short breaks during the day or taking time off to enjoy a vacation, we are not built to work without stopping.
Communicate: If you’re beginning to feel burnt out, or stressed, you need to communicate that to team members, your leadership, or anyone that influences your tasks. Yes we are a vital part of our organization’s work (even though it might not feel that way all the time) but this means that if we are not careful we can get swept up in the chaos. So take the time to take care of yourself.

The Importance of Self-Care as a PR Professional

The clear takeaway here is to schedule breaks.

Managing stress as a PR professional is paramount to your success, given the demanding nature of the industry. By actively prioritizing activities that nurture your mental and emotional well-being, you can avoid stress, increase productivity, and build an effective system to manage rising challenges.

Taking well-needed breaks not only helps with work-life balance but as a leader in your industry, it sets an example to team members and stakeholders. I just got back from jumping off a mountain in Rio de Janeiro during carnival— a much needed break. Treat yo self.

Joey Gaskins is a public affairs professional with a formidable record of designing and executing innovative strategies, campaigns, and tactics—turning around negative perceptions, reaffirming trust, amplifying and influencing policies, and achieving unprecedented results. Connect with him on LinkedIn.