Over the last number of weeks, the team at Agent99 PR has been sharing their tips on what keeps us well at work. This was largely spurred on by the commencement of a new year, and the fact that all of us felt a common thread when we got back into the office post holidays, which was to try and look after our health in the best possible way in 2023.
As you have heard from the other team members so far, working at a PR agency (whilst also exhilarating), can be stressful at times. Keeping yourself well physically, mentally and emotionally, is not only important personally, but it is genuinely the key to happiness at work. And this goes hand in hand with focus and productivity.
When we first brainstormed blog theme ideas for this topic, I very quickly put my hand up for ‘organisation’. For me, being organised is where it all starts in terms of feeling well. Without it, all other aspects suffer. I don’t sleep well, I stop eating because I’m stressed, and then my mood goes completely out the window. This isn’t good for anyone, not me, not my family, my colleagues or anyone that has anything to do with me in fact! I’m not joking. So, this is why I have been an avid champion of getting organised at work, and it will feature heavily when I interview and look for a new team member.
So, how do you get organised you ask? Well, here are my few (but very effective) tips that have worked for me personally during my career, which spans well over 20 years for me (sadly) now:
- To do lists – before you start yawning, hear me out. It seems basic, but I promise you that many (usually graduates) do not understand the importance of keeping a running list of what you should achieve in a month, a week, a day, etc. I start each week by having a list of the mandatories – ie, what do I need to get done that is most urgent to achieve progress towards our client and company goals? This then guides me on what I need to do daily to achieve it all by the end of the week. I also build in buffers because inevitably, tasks move onto my list that I wasn’t expecting, so I need to have extra time to accommodate this.
- Keep a paper diary – now this one is a controversial one in this digital age! I actually keep two diaries, a paper one that has all of my personal and work commitments, and a digital diary that has all my work commitments (I am now starting to commit my personal plans in there to make it easier for my team to see when I am available). The reason I do this is because I can see easily what is coming up for the whole week, and then I can plan my life holistically, not just my work week, all at once. With running a household, two busy kids, our social life and trips with my husband and family, this is much easier to manage. I recommend it highly!
- Manage your emails – Again, we all have our systems, but there is nothing more daunting to me than a full inbox. So, I never let my emails get beyond one page. If that happens in my day, I park 30 mins to clear them out. My system is simple. If I have read it and don’t need to action anything, I delete it (unless I feel like I will need it later, in which case I file it in a folder), if I need to action it, I do so right then if I can, then delete it. If it requires more of my time, it gets left in the inbox and I add it to my ‘to do list’ so I can park the appropriate time and date to that activity. It will not be deleted until it’s done. So easy, and so effective. And I never feel overwhelmed by an in box that has 20,456 emails in it!
- Eat the frog – a wise PR industry legend Chris Savage recently did a productivity session with our team, and his thing was to always mark what the ‘ugly frog’ is for that day and eat it first thing in the morning. I couldn’t agree more. We are all tempted to do all the things we love or are competent at. But there is nothing better than getting that one ugly piece of work you don’t like off your plate first thing. Otherwise, you’ll fine that it will continue to show up on your list and you will continue to hate life! He calls it, Eat The Frog! Dramatic, but true.
- Plan your day ahead of time – each day I take 10 mins to look over my list for the next day so I can take full control of what I need to do, and how and when I’m going to do it. I even do this on Sunday nights so that I never have a sense of the ‘blues’ or that feeling of being out of control. It is great for getting a good night’s sleep too, because you feel ready for the challenge the next day.
I can promise you that if you enlist even one or two of these tactics into your day, you will feel so on top of your workload, rather than letting it take control of you.
For me, that is the key to health, particularly mental health! So do yourself a favour and try it!
If you are looking for a team that prioritises health whilst also focussing on the health of your business (see what I did there…), please get in touch with the Agent99 team today!
Agent Sharon
PR Agency Sydney
PR Agency Sydney
PR Agency Sydney
PR Agency Sydney
PR Agency Sydney
PR Agency Sydney
PR Agency Sydney
