1) Prioritise your workload

Let’s start with managing what you can control – your workload. Your to-do list can often seem never-ending and whilst most of us find a list helpful, it can quickly add pressure when you need it the least. Regain control of your time and your mental health by prioritising your workload.

Try splitting your list into three buckets: ‘must do’, ‘can wait’ and ‘nice to have’. Each time you complete a ‘must do’ task – most likely a recurring one – note how long it takes to complete and block that time out in your calendar on a regular basis, whether it’s daily, weekly or monthly. Don’t forget to include blocks of time for checking emails and taking a lunch break! You can now cross these off your list for good, knowing that you’ve allocated time for them in the future.

Once you’ve done this with all ‘must do’ tasks, try to find open spaces in your calendar for the ‘can wait’ items. Ideally, block a full morning or afternoon for each task until they are all allocated. Do the same with the ‘nice to have’ list but put these at least two weeks in the future so you don’t even need to think about them again for the time being. If you work through your ‘can wait’ tasks sooner than expected, you can look ahead and bring forward a ‘nice to have’. This way, you’re not letting the quantity of tasks overwhelm you, you’re getting on with what needs to be done now and leaving space for future projects if you have the time later. As new tasks arise, you can juggle the blocks of time around according to their bucket, nudging forward ‘can waits’ and ‘nice to haves’ to fit in new ‘must dos’.

2) Follow the plan

Something that causes us to feel overwhelmed that unfortunately we can’t control, are our colleagues. We’re often challenged by senior stakeholders to do more with less, to improve marketing performance, to generate leads, grow a community and embrace AI…all by 10am on a Monday morning. And whilst we can’t avoid these requests, we can push back on them.

It is often daunting to say “no” at work, especially to colleagues who are more senior, but this is where your marketing plan is your best friend. In times like this, refer to your objectives and question if they are still what the business wants from the marketing team. If so, then question why the agreed tactics are being challenged at this point in time and, if not, ask why and what the new objectives should be. Try to understand the context within which new tasks come from ‘above’ – this doesn’t come across as bad manners but inquisitiveness and a desire to better understand the business landscape. If your stakeholders don’t have solid reasons to change the existing marketing plan, feel confident to push back and voice your opinion.

3) Gain some perspective

When you’re under pressure, feeling overwhelmed, undervalued and exhausted, it’s hard to step away from the detail and gain some perspective. But that’s sometimes needed to reset mentally, regain control and feel refreshed enough to keep going.

There are lots of way to gain perspective by yourself, practices like mindfulness, journalling and exercise can all help with calming your mind, processing thoughts and feelings and letting off steam. Alternatively, sharing your problems with colleagues can help to gain some perspective. Grabbing a coffee or a quick call with someone in another department might help you to understand what colleagues are dealing with. You might find shared problems that you can tackle together, or you might just feel like the problems become easier to handle knowing that you’re not alone. If you don’t have colleagues to turn to, remember there are plenty of other marketers in the same boat as you and most are willing to listen. Some might even have great advice based on their own experiences. Meeting like-minded marketers through networking events is a great way to grow a support group who you can turn to in times of need.

The marketing industry is a long way from being stress-free. As much as we’d all love our employers to help improve our mental health, it’s on us as individuals and peers to navigate the challenges of our industry together. So, if you’re struggling with feeling overwhelmed, undervalued and exhausted by marketing, now is the time to reach out and find help.