Guest Blog – Helen Moon, EventWell
It is well understood and documented that working in the events industry is often exciting and rewarding, but also comes with periods of tension and stress. By building and being more resilient, we can help ourselves and our event industry colleagues deal with stress while minimising the impact on our emotional, mental and physical wellbeing.
Being resilient does not mean being impervious to stress, but it does mean adapting to and coping with pressured and stressful situations in a better, more productive and less harmful way.
Here are EventWell’s five tips for building resilience:
Self-awareness
Self-awareness is crucial for managing your mental, physical and emotional health. Being aware of where you are and how you are feeling in the present moment and the impact this may be having not just on yourself but on others. It is also really important to be in tune with your body and the little hints and clues that it will send you through the day.
For example, if you have a headache mid-afternoon, then ask yourself - “Have I drank enough water?” If you are feeling hungry throughout the day, not only should you question whether you have had enough to eat, but also maybe consider if drinking more water may be the solution here too, as sometimes thirst pangs can manifest as hunger pangs.
It is quite normal for us to feel tired around mid-afternoon, but if you are feeling tired at around 5/6 o’clock then this can be a good indicator that you are not getting enough sleep. In addition to this, pay attention to how you are feeling in the morning when you awake. If you are still groggy, you need more sleep and could maybe do with an early night.
Self-awareness is vital for coping with the peaks and troughs of working in the events industry and is all about being in tune with and taking notice of our bodies and minds and then taking action to provide what it is your body is telling you it needs.
Self-care
Leading a healthy lifestyle and developing our life skills is hugely beneficial for our mental, physical and emotional health for obvious reasons. Ensuring that we have balance in terms of the deliberate actions that we take to look after our health will make us more resilient.
Eating healthier and for life, ensuring we get the sleep that we need, limiting our use of stimulants such as caffeine, and being active and moving have all been proven to impact positively on our health, and in turn, will improve your performance in the events industry.
Add to that life skills such as self-management, mental flexibility, and assertiveness and you are on a win-win to wellbeing and good mental and emotional health.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is all about being in the present moment, being aware of where we are and what we are doing, and not necessarily distracted by what is going on around us. Learning to work in a mindful way and avoiding methods that can lead to and drive unproductivity is hugely beneficial to our mental health and effectiveness in our work.
Despite claims that multi-tasking is a productive way to work, our brains can only concentrate well on one task at a time. So, a better and more mindful practice would be to prioritise what needs to be done, switch off any distractions, and then single task your way through your to do list.
You are much less likely to have to go back and fix a mistake, and you are being much kinder on your mind too.
Relationships
Your close network of family and friends (whether at work or at home) are crucial in making you more resilient to the ups and downs that life may throw at you and, more often than not, you are not going through them alone.
Human beings are social creatures and, we rely on our tribes and groups to keep us well, make us feel safe and have a sense of belonging. Remember how spending time with the people you care about makes you feel, and then do more of it.
Purpose
Having purpose is all about what it is that gets you up in the morning. It can guide your life decisions, influence your behaviour and offer you a sense of direction.
It also helps when things go wrong, as it helps you put things into perspective, and refocus on what really matters, the things that are meaningful, allowing you to bounce back, move ahead and enjoy life.
So, by finding your purpose, you can achieve great things together!
EventWell is the event industry’s charitable social enterprise dedicated to mental health and wellbeing advice, knowledge, support and training for event professionals.
Find out more at www.eventwell.org