For my birthday, my 23-year-old daughter gave me a gratitude journal. She told me about her own practice of writing in her journal first thing in the morning and right before bed. She gives herself space to list what she’s grateful for and sets her mindset for the day.
In fact, she’s got a whole routine for morning and night that’s incredibly healthy. She eats well, exercises, and tells me all the time that I’m worth taking care of. She’s my self-care inspiration.
I’m trying hard to follow her example. I think people of my generation (Gen X) have been trained to overwork. We were told that productivity equals worth. But that philosophy leaves many of us feeling exhausted, overworked, and underappreciated.
Burnout is real, especially for communicators. Nearly 75 percent of people working in marketing and communications say they experience burnout.
I want to help my readers avoid burnout and love their job in library marketing! These are my personal tips for managing stress.
10 tips to manage stress in library marketing
#1: Create a space where you want to work.
When I worked at the library, my office was in a windowless basement. It was lit by fluorescent lights and was incredibly sterile. It looked like a glass cage.
I was happy to have my own workspace, but it was not a space in which I wanted to work. So, I made a few minor changes.
I hung blue twinkling lights around the perimeter and bought a funky blue desk lamp at Goodwill. I papered the glass windows with cards and notes that I’d received from former interns and co-workers. I bought a tiny portable speaker and played soft music through my iPhone while I worked.
These changes may seem very small. But they worked to create a place where I looked forward to coming each morning.
You can do the same by auditing your current workspace. Is your desk a place that will foster creativity and productive work?
If not, then spend some time working on your workspace. Dim the lighting. Declutter your desk. Store some snacks or your favorite candy in your desk. Bring your favorite mug to work to make coffee or tea time more enjoyable. Hang some artwork.
If you’re working in a shared area, do what you can to add a personal touch to the space. And invest in headphones so you can play music or white noise or whatever you need to help you focus.
#2: Don’t eat at your desk.
Stopping for half an hour to eat gives you a natural boost in productivity and it helps to refresh your mind for the second half of your workday.
Don’t use this time to catch up on emails. Grab a book. Head outside if you can and spend half an hour in the sun.
#3: Don’t try to multitask.
It’s tempting to try and tackle several tasks simultaneously. That seems like a productive use of time. But it’s the opposite because you do none of them well.
Constantly switching focus makes you less productive and strains your brain. Try your hardest to focus on one task at a time.
I’ll often close my email and Teams when I know my focus might be pulled away from an important task. When I worked at the library, I would take my laptop into the stacks or into a conference room. A change of scenery can often help you hyperfocus on a task that needs tackling.
#4: Take breaks during the day.
You want to look away from your computer every 20 minutes. And every hour, give yourself a few moments to take a mindful break. Stretch, look out the window, or go outside and really pay attention to what you see, hear, feel, and smell.
If you need help with this, there are lots of apps for your phone that will remind you to take time for yourself. Or you can use Tomato Timer on your laptop or desktop to nudge you.
#5: Create a shut-down routine.
When you’re done working, create a routine to tell your brain that work time is over. Turn off notifications on your phone if you can. Shut the computer. Resist the temptation to look at your library’s social media accounts when you’re not on call. This is an especially important step for those of you who work from home.
#6: Give yourself the grace to be imperfect.
Even though I know it feels like it sometimes, no one will die if your email or social media post doesn’t get the engagement you were hoping for.
So much of what impacts our marketing is out of our control. And all of marketing is an experiment. That’s what drives innovation in your promotions.
If your promotion fails, it doesn’t mean you are a failure. Give yourself permission to try something else!
#7: Celebrate success.
Success is a great motivator, and we often focus too much on what we have to do next. We should spend just as much time celebrating and examining the emails, social media posts, flyers, website graphics, videos… etc. that do well.
Why did a specific promotion work? How did that tactic help your library reach its overall goals? Ask yourself this question for every promotion you do. Pretty soon, you’ll start to see your successes pile up!
Before you leave work each day, write down one thing you did well that day. Share your successes with your co-workers (and keep a running list for your performance review.) You can also share your successes every Friday on the Library Marketing Book Club Facebook page.
#8: Find ways to recharge your creativity
You might have noticed that every time I interview a library marketer, I ask them what they do for inspiration. That’s because motivation naturally flags over time. It helps to have sources of inspiration and energy when we’re stuck in a rut.
Go to a conference. Read a book. Listen to a podcast. Watch a TED Talk. Read a blog post. Meet with a mentor. Pick one thing that will get your creativity and productivity flowing again and schedule it as part of your regular work routine.
#9: Use your vacation and sick time.
If you are having a day where you’re just feeling drained, exhausted, and stressed, use your sick time to take a mental health day.
And plan to take time off from work at least once a year. For me, disconnecting from work for an extended period is the best productivity boost. For the first day, I’m super tempted to check my email. Then, I go into a period of about 2-3 days where work is the furthest thing from my mind. I have a job?? Then, right around day 5, I start to process new ideas for promotions and posts for this blog! I end up sending emails to myself with those ideas so I can tackle them when I get back.
But I firmly believe that I would never come up with those new ideas if I didn’t give myself permission to not think about work. And for me, that means physical separation from the office. Maybe you’re the same way!
#10: Ask for help.
73 percent of people don’t ask for help on the job when they need it, according to Study Finds. The survey also found that 53 percent of people feel held back from achieving certain goals in their lives because they try to go at it alone.
These numbers are incredibly sad. And I would hope that you would feel comfortable enough in your library to ask your co-workers and fellow library marketers for help. But if that’s not something you can do, you can always reach out to me. I’ll always do my best to get back to you.
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Super Library Marketing: Practical Tips and Ideas for Library Promotion 
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