What do you do if your work-life balance in public relations is becoming unrealistic?

There will also be a story to tell, react to, or work on., especially with the news cycle being 24/7. It's important to relook at what your goals are, track your progress, and set clear expectations. It's easy to get swept into it all, especially when things move so quickly!

When it comes to public relations it truly is a 24/7 position which is why you need to love it and have a passion for it. When it comes to assessing your work life balance it really comes down to a couple simple things. Set clear expectations with yourself within the profession to include how much of your life will this be apart of. Know your own limits and when to ask for help. Being in a 24/7 profession and being on call is demanding so know when you need a time out so it doesn’t affect your personal life. Lastly, make time for you. This includes your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. There is no way to meet our full potential if we are not whole in one of these areas.

First things first, work is a major part of life, so let's talk 'life-balance' and consign 'work-life balance' to the bin. Second, life-balance is personal and differs for every individual, depending on their work and other commitments or 'red-line' boundaries - a late night work call may be unreasonable for some, and ideal for others. Third, understand your personal and work goals in the hierarchy of needs - what's most important and what's nice to do - of course the important stuff must be prioritised, but if you identify 'nice to dos', consider ways to periodically incorporate (some of) them.

I had big jobs for 13 years in the major agency world (Waggener Edstrom, now called WE, and DDB Worldwide Communications). The stress levels were massive. 20 years ago I started my own marketing communications business and never looked back. The work-life balance is so much better. I feel like I am taking care of myself and no longer chasing *perceived* glamour, power and money. Sure running my own business has it owns stressors, but not at the same levels as those massive agencies. There is no boss, I get to pick my clients, work the hours I want and walk my Labrador retriever at lunch to recalibrate. I highly recommend it for work-life balance.

Tudo é pra ontem, como diz o mestre Emicida. Para evitar um burnout certeiro, a coisa mais importante é priorizar. Questione-se sobre o que é realmente urgente. Eu brinco sobre isso ser um problema para o "eu de hoje" ou o "eu de amanh?". é importante ficar atento para garantir que nenhuma crise surgiu, mas estabele?a limites claros - principalmente com demandas que podem ser resolvidas depois, dentro do horário comercial. E, como lideran?a, o nosso cuidado deve ser redobrado para evitar uma cultura tóxica. Ferramentas como agendamento de mensagens no Slack, por exemplo, me ajudam muito.

I spent half of my work life ( more than 20 years) in a 24/7 role and my “survival” was based on setting my mental, emotional and physical health as a priority. This presupposed setting my boundaries right and having the level of support required internally and externally -in particular in times of crisis management . I also invested a significant amount of time on training and optimizing our crisis response manual so as to be able to make the process more efficient .

Setting boundaries in a job is crucial to achieving work-life balance. That said, the reality is that there is no such thing as the “perfect” work-life balance. Its rules aren’t set in stone. What works perfectly for one person may not work as well for another. Your ideal work-life balance will be based on your unique goals and priorities. It won’t always be perfect and it won’t always be consistent. The world of PR is anything but consistent! What’s important is to communicate those goals and priorities to your manager and be true to what your needs are as an employee.

I speak up and say NO, when required. Not everything is urgent and not everything needs to be agreed upon. Work is always welcome but ‘unnecessary’ stress isn’t. Being active and having a good ME-time when not at work, is important. I run and work out in the morning and close my day by meditating. I enrol myself into art workshops and learn something new regularly.

To be honest work life balance is becoming increasingly challenging with the increasing digital penetration. As a publicist, being on your toes 24/7 has kind of become a thing for many, especially in the hospitality, healthcare,BFSI space considering anything can go wrong in many ways. Having said that, it is important to live while working and set boundaries across the stakeholder system both internal and external. Somedays would be good some days will be bad, however not every weekend will be crisis and not everything is urgent enough to allocate time post working hours.

Limites s?o difíceis de serem colocados, mas importantes para o equilíbrio entre vida profissional e pessoal. Muitas vezes, v?o surgir situa??es que exigir?o sua aten??o e n?o poder?o ser deixadas de lado, mas outras vezes é possível sim flexibilizar prazos e negociar entregas. Além disso, uma dica prática é bloquear sua agenda para ir a academia ou buscar seus filhos na escola, por exemplo. Pessoas têm diferentes prioridades e isso n?o as torna menos competentes em seus trabalhos.

Here the advise my Managing Director gave me years ago; this industry can eat you alive so once a week, no matter what, leave on time. Go and do something you love. Take that class, walk your dog, or just Netflix with friends and family. Do you.

I work ahead. (And I have an amazing team) I’ve created a bank of content that gives me the opportunity to to not panic and still talk to mom and, take my kid to the thing. In my private life, I prioritize the things I won’t have the longest. At work I plan for the announcements, the crisis and strategize during the “quiet times”. There is no stop. Only plan. ;)

Having worked in the communications industry for over a decade now, I understand that the chance to be part of an impactful story or face a crisis can arise ay. Therefore, to maintain resilience, it's crucial to take specific steps to preserve a healthy balance. Here is what I do: 1)I consistently prioritize my responsibilities, focusing on high-priority tasks, and effectively delegating or renegotiating deadlines for less urgent work. 2) I openly address my concerns with my manager and collaboratively seek potential solutions. 3) I carve out time for self-care, whether it involves browsing products online or having a pillow fight with my 6-year-old.

It is sooo easy to be carried away. There no "enough" or "finished". You can just deliver more and better until you drop. So what's my advice? – Discuss expectations with your client. –?Don't over-deliver for a start. Meet your clients expectations, but don't exaggerate first. If you want to impress, do it after a few weeks. – Focus on helping your client, not production. Your client wants something, like leads. Maybe you can find leads in a better way than getting published somewhere. I find a good dialogue with the client the best way of getting a healthy work life.

Planning and prioritizing probably is one of my favorite things when it comes to work-life balance and within work, work balance itself. In PR it is very easy to get carried away with the little things and when you think about it there are always going to be last minute things that come up and you think in the moment need to get done, that is not true. It is very important to know and identify your goals, problems, and opportunities so that you can allocate your recourses and time accordingly. By doing this when last minute emergencies to come up you are able to identify true emergencies and handle them accordingly verse thinking everything is an emergency which allows you to keep a nice work-life balance.

The most humbling thing a leader must do is let go. When your identity is grounded in your skill set, delegation is often scarier than just putting more onto your plate. You know you can deliver, but can they? I’ll save you the suspense, they can’t do it as well as you. But at one point you were in that same place. If you don’t let go and give your team the opportunity to try and fail and learn, then they will never advance. And neither will you.

From my experience, we need to automate and use tools for everything we can: - Use project management tools like Asana or Trello for efficient task organization.. - Automate media monitoring and social media management. - Cloud facilitates easy document sharing. - Communication platforms like Slack or Teams/GMeet/Zoom can help to reduce email overload and unnecessary meetings. - Analytics tools offer insights into campaign effectiveness, guiding smarter decisions. We need to analyse everything we do and get rid of any non-value bringing actions: tools are our best delegation friends.

In addition to using automated tools, consider creating templates for repeated PR tasks e.g., responding to colleagues about PR queries, standard email replies to requests for additional reporting and media pitching etc. You'll be amazed at how much time you can save by copying/pasting/populating with updated information versus writing emails from scratch each time. Be smart.

Look for opportunities to streamline your workflow and free up some of your time. Use tools like Hootsuite or Mailchimp to automate your social media and email marketing tasks. Delegate tasks to your team members or freelancers when possible, and trust them to do their jobs well. And don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it - your colleagues and clients will appreciate your honesty and proactivity. ??

Muck Rack has some great automation tools - for instance, you can automatically generate a coverage report and it'll continue to update! Just make sure the settings are as precise as possible so you don't have to do as much clean-up in case anything you didn't want to be added to the report ends up there.

Use the time you're not on call to truly disconnect. Set boundaries. Learn to say no and be okay with it. You owe it to yourself to be present and give that 120% when you're "on" which is what most of us do routinely, and happily. Don't try to be a hero. You'll burn yourself out in a month. Take care of you and what's important.

Securing a harmonious work-life equilibrium in PR demands not just balance but also diversity in your endeavors. Diversifying your life's portfolio enriches your existence.

While PR can be a demanding field, it's important to maintain a sense of balance and perspective. Make time for hobbies, exercise, and socializing outside of work. Diversify your client base and projects to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket. And don't be afraid to take a break when you need it - whether it's a long weekend or a full-blown vacation. Remember, a recharged and refreshed PR pro is a more effective one. ??

Balance and diversify, this was a hard concept for me to understand early on in my career until I realized my time and personal life was passing me by and my work was always going to be there. In the world of 24/7 PR, you truly need to have a healthy work life-balance otherwise you are not going to survive. Without a doubt there is no other field I would want to be in right now, but I would not be able to survive if did not have a harmonious balance emotionally, mentally, physically, and with my health. Find what works for you as it is not going to be the same for everyone. What makes you happy, is a hobby, disconnecting from the chaos that we love, being with friends, find your Zen, but you have to have your balance to be resilient.

I‘m sharing with you two sources of happiness that balance a demanding work life: boxing and wakeboarding. Before you judge try it. You’re welcome.

Public relations isn't unique in terms of difficulty in managing work/life balance. The big difference is that doing the job effectively usually means being more on call than some other professions because we work in a news-adjacent industry. It's really up to the individual to set the parameters for how much they're willing to work outside normal hours.

There was a study that placed public relations in the top ten of most stressful jobs. In simplest terms, our job is to tell our clients' stories and news to the media, employees, investors and the public in a positive way and also mitigate risk. It's a lot to ask of a profession and depending on your clients it can be very stressful at times. My advice is to do your best, be persistent and also be kind to yourself.

Finding the elusive equilibrium between work and life is akin to balancing on a tightrope. The rules, though well-intentioned, often prove insufficient. As a seasoned PR manager, I've danced this delicate waltz The secret sauce lies in the team. They're not just colleagues; they're co-pilots on this flight. When the workload threatens to capsize us, it's their collective oars that steady the ship. We share the load, recalibrate priorities, and lift each other when fatigue sets in. That being said, speak to your bosses, set strict no work hours and remember to take that compensatory leave to balance yourself.

Advocate for change: If your work-life balance is consistently unmanageable, it may be time to have a candid conversation with your boss or HR department. Come prepared with specific examples and suggestions for how your company can better support employee well-being. And if things don't improve, don't be afraid to explore other opportunities that align with your values and goals. Remember, your career should enhance your life, not consume it. ??

I believe that getting this balance right ( or close to right) requires frequent checking in with yourself. One week may be harder than another, but don't let the hard weeks trip you up and breed bad habits. Keep checking in and re-prioritizing.