Event Stress! “Event stress” as we call it in our office – if it’s good, it’s great. If it’s bad, it makes you sick! BY TRACEY THOMAS Conference Promotion Challenges

While stress can help motivate you to achieve goals, you do need some tools in place before stress levels get so high they affect your health.

Recognise what causes your stress.
Putting a label on the cause is important. A real contributor to stress is to worry about a nameless problem – if you don’t know the real cause, how can you fix it? By identifying what is causing your stress you can decide if you can do anything about it.

Separate worrying from planning.
No amount of worrying will get things done or change anything. Planning to deal with whatever is causing the stress will at least give you an opportunity to look for ways of alleviating it. Planning is an opportunity not a burden. Research suggests spending three times longer planning will make the task one-third shorter.

Make time for thinking.
Space and time to think about you and your business or job is critical. Headspace to let ideas flow and plan for the future can lead to better decision-making and finding creative ways to solve problems. But remember, keep it a positive exercise, don’t turn it into a worrying session.

Make time to do nothing.
Time out is important. Leave your cell phone behind and find a sanctuary where you can relax. Take a short break during the day for a short walk – you’ll feel invigorated and ready to carry on.

Create a to-do list.
Make sure you have a to-do list you regularly update which shows tasks you have completed so you can reprioritise as necessary. Never set a job in concrete. If something comes along, then relegate what needs to be put off with a new deadline.

Know the difference between urgent and important.
Urgency is a major stress causer. Decide what is really important to your business and prioritise accordingly.

Acknowledge you can’t do everything.
Stress caused by fatigue is a killer. If you have help then ease your time burden by delegating activities to others or, if you are a oneperson band, admit your limitations and say NO. Success takes time and it is better to achieve your goals than be burnt out by them.

A great website www.stressfreework.co.nz

Tracey Thomas is a director of Conference Innovations and can be contacted on email tracey@conference.co.nz. Visit www.conference.co.nz for further details on conference innovations.