What are effective tips for maintaining a healthy work-life balance in strategic communications?

The life of a Strategic Communication Consultant is to uncomplicate things, and so being available with enough free mind space is the key to delivering, consistently and qualitatively. There is no harm in prioritizing the assignments and saying NO to those that do not require your attention.

🚀 Prioritize YOU in the work equation! I'd underscore that in strategic communications, while deadlines and deliverables are vital, your well-being remains paramount. Integrate meticulous planning and assertiveness—master the art of declining excessive work. Embrace regular timeouts, ensuring you disconnect post-work to rejuvenate mentally. Harness the power of delegation, trusting your team's competencies. Lean on your support system, welcoming feedback and assistance when overwhelmed. And don't neglect your personal and professional growth—continuous learning amplifies your expertise and heightens job satisfaction. Embrace these guidelines, fostering a work-life synergy that fuels your career and personal aspirations.

Probably one of the key things for maintaining balance is understanding the urgent-important matrix. Because no, not everything is urgent and highly important. Managing expectations, timings and planning are essential to be effective in strategic communications and keep a healthy and smart approach to business and life.

The key to maintaining a healthy work-life balance in strategic communications -- is being more strategic. What are your BIG goals? What work truly drives your organization forward? What aligns with your strategic plan? Keep your eyes on the prize and prioritize what matters most. Get to the rest when --and if -- you can, but not at the cost of your wellbeing. You and your team can't do everything. It's okay to phase projects (table for later) or find alternative solutions to what was originally requested -- especially when you're focusing on what matters most. Your colleagues will respect you and your organization will be better for it.

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance in strategic communications is vital for one's well-being and long-term success. For me setting clear boundaries for work hours, prioritising tasks, taking regular breaks and having WFH flexibility is crucial as is effective time management in order to prevent overloading. What definitely works for me though is booking time on my calendar for digital detoxing and wellness activities that help me reduce stress and improve my productivity. Every day I make time to power walk, cook a healthy dinner and sleep at least 8 hours per night. During the week I make sure to keep in touch with friends and family and definitely add fun activities like dancing or handcrafting.

Too often I hear leaders say they will "make time" for a certain task. This usually means taking time from another task, time with family, or self-care time. As leaders setting boundaries means we must "create time". This means scheduling self-care, scheduling time to do deep-think and deep-work and saving this time. You cannot pour from an empty cup which means you cannot provide strategic plans without time to review concepts and ideas.

Too often we hear about "setting boundaries" but we don't often hear about "keeping boundaries." It's on you to not only set but maintain your boundaries. Do you tell your boss you're not available after 5 unless in emergency? Stop answering his/her emails and texts then. Discuss it with them again and remind them that you have other priorities after 5pm and ask if there is an expectation that you'll reply right away. Feel uncomfortable? That's when you know you're growing.

Protect your calendar. Block time every day to get work done, whether it is writing, planning, researching or learning. This time is just as important as the meetings you take with stakeholders, if not more important. Setting this time aside during the workday, and not giving it up, it allows you to have a stronger work-life balance and achieve greater work satisfaction.

There have definitely been times when I became my work; when I was unable to see where my work ended and I began. There will always be projects that require a lot of your time and attention. In setting (and keeping boundaries) you need to do a few things : 1. Be clear (to yourself and your team) about where your limitations or "stop points" are; encourage your team members to share theirs as well 2. Delegate. This is generally hard for communication professionals to do because we're very detail-oriented but having a solid delegation plan will help you to create more space between work life and personal life. 3. Be intentional. There are projects that will totally consume you if you let them. Be intentional about maintaining hobbies.

A simple thing you can do as a company is set up a "little wins" and an "oopsie" (or whatever you want to call it) channel in your internal Slack/Teams. It's great to celebrate even the small "wins" as a team, but equally valuable to get a laugh and share learnings from inevitable mistakes as well. Not only will this promote psychological safety within the team to share these errors in a supportive way, but also allows others to grow and learn from them.

Once you can accept saying ''Hmm i didn't know that but I'll apply that now that I know" in all humility you are already on a better path. Giving yourself time to reflect and creating that safe space of being in the unknown is what usually generates sparks to make new connections and insights. If you know it all then can't grow or evolve and eventually will fall behind.

ASK FOR HELP! Too often Communicators think that because they know HOW to do it, they should do it themselves. The CFO knows how to do payroll and how to direct strategic investments, I'm sure, doesn't mean he/she does it. A sign of a true leader is to ask for help. Be a leader

Taking accountability for a mistake or a miss can be tough for someone who sets excellence as a high priority. I recently had to admit that I forgot to do something for a volunteer committee that I'm co-chairing. My co-chair said they would not mention it to others, but I said it's okay. I thought we were covered in a different way, but it didn't work out. I owned it. Years ago, I would have let them cover for me. I could feel the growth within myself. The more you do, the more likely you are to miss something. What's important is that we are honest with ourselves and others — and that we learn from it. We are human. It's going to be okay.

It's important to acknowledge your wins, no matter how small. This helps maintain motivation and a positive outlook. Plus, they can serve as reminders of what you're capable of when imposter syndrome creeps in!

In the different seasons of your personal and professional life, creating a healthy work-life balance in your communications career will look different. I have heard numerous successful women say that balance isn't as important as being fully present in the moments of both your professional and home/family life.

Struggling to balance a demanding project in 2014, working 18-hour days, and raising toddlers left me stressed and agitated. In hindsight, I could have avoided burnout by learning to delegate effectively, managing stress, and diversifying my interests. Recognizing the importance of balance and diversification earlier would have made both work and life more fulfilling. Much later I daily dedicated 20-minutes break, whether grabbing coffee or enjoying park moments, which allowed me crucial reflection time. This simple routine became pivotal in identifying where I went wrong, bringing clarity on managing stress, and ultimately steering towards a more balanced and fulfilling path.

I think of balance NOT as a steady state, but rather as active and involving continuous shifting and reprioritization. There are very few times (if any) when we will be living with the desired ratios of work, family time, friends time, travel, etc. This is an important difference because “balance” today is different than “balance” tomorrow.

Yes, I strongly believe in the importance of broadening one’s perspective by actively engaging with different facets of life, be it culturally, socially, or physically. This diversification not only enriches your abilities in strategic communications but also allows you to approach problems and spot opportunities from unique vantage points. This is especially pertinent in today’s fast-paced world of social media and the constantly shifting marketing/communications landscape.

I learnt to recharge from Dr. Dalton-Smith's work. There are seven types of rest. Physical rest: Passive physical rest includes sleeping and napping. Active physical rest means restorative activities such as yoga, stretching. Mental rest: Schedule short breaks every two hours throughout your workday. Sensory rest: Schedule sensory deprivation by closing your eyes for a minute intermittently throughout the day. Creative rest: I like to paint or write. Emotional rest: This means having the time and space to freely express your feelings. Social rest: Surround yourself with positive and supportive people. Spiritual rest: Add prayer, meditation or community involvement to your daily routine.

Get an outside perspective to help you along the way. Just as professional athletes invest in coaches to unlock another level of performance, professional communicators can gain this as well through the right coach. Someone who knows what it's like to work in your field and can support you with the balance you seek. Invest in it.

There are a cadre of resources to consider for your development of agility. Self-monitoring obviously leaves gaps in not knowing what you don't know; unconscious activity may be at the core of a present challenge. We need perhaps a trifecta of confidants; at home, at work, and a coach or mentor outside of your day-to-day routine. The most important aspect of review is learning to ask great questions and listen without defensive posturing when you hear something that doesn't sit right. There's gold in that query. Developing healthy habits to keep attention, intention and interactions congruent happens in the conversations that support it. Don't avoid them. See them as doors to ascending the ladder of self-awareness and your ability to Be.

Picture this: Amidst work pressures, take a moment of introspection. Are you genuinely content? Do you find yourself drained? Assess your well-being comprehensively, considering factors like sleep and nutrition. Identify stressors and positive elements. If, for instance, the remote work routine becomes a relentless marathon, act promptly. Timely adjustments are key. Regularly reviewing and fine-tuning ensures your work-life balance aligns with your evolving needs and values. Remember, a fulfilling life is as crucial as financial prosperity. Prioritize self-care and well-being; the rest will naturally fall into place.

Never be satisfied. This may sound shocking, but take it in a positive way and attitude. At regular intervals, stop and think about how you could do a little better next time. In this way, continuous development and improvement starts to happen almost by itself.

Stop going to meetings where you have nothing to add and nothing to learn. Pass on any meeting that doesn't have an agenda. Get off social media when you're not at work. That alone will free up hours of your day to do things that are actually fun. Shorten your commute - aim to work and live in the same city. There will likely be a trade-off here - a smaller house or a smaller paycheque.

Stop wasting time in meetings that go over 30 minutes and have no agenda, simply say no. Utilize technology to boost efficiency and productivity, consider outsourcing when possible, and prioritize strategic thinking and execution. SOS work (sending out stuff) is not one of those activities... And, take time to meet "your audiences & stakeholders", get out of the office and actually sit down and talk to people. It is so refreshing.

Set aside a time of the day to look at emails - and turn off desktop and mobile notifications! It seems like a small gesture, but it will help you focus on a set period to dedicate to desk time instead of being distracted whilst you are working on more in-depth reports and activities.

If at all possible, live and work in the same city and keep your commute as short as possible. I've never had a commute of more than 20 minutes. And I currently have a 20-minute stress-free walk to work. The hours I didn't waste on commuting have been key to a maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Take a long hard look at all the meetings in your calendar. Which ones do you absolutely need to be at? Drop the rest. That’ll free up more than enough time to get work done and have a life outside of work.