Tim’s Thoughts April 2023
Dealing with Stress
I hope that everyone has enjoyed the spring weather and has had the opportunity to get outside and enjoy this beautiful time of year. March and April are busy times as we are all working to get our budgets balanced and approved. The past few weeks have been especially busy in Augusta working through the budget process and, just for good measure, we had a Board member abruptly resign from office. As you know any time this occurs it causes stress and possibly some turmoil amongst the elected body which most of the time is not in the best interest of a functioning governing body. Stress in our positions in local government can be overwhelming at times. The Center for Creative Leadership has an excellent article on how we as managers can cope with these stressful situations. https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/stress-of-leadership/
They provide several great strategies for combating leadership stress.
1. Recognize your stress signals.
Learn to pay attention to your body’s responses to leadership stress. What triggers a feeling of stress, and what are your physiological responses? The sooner that you recognize your body going into stress mode, the sooner you can take action to manage it.
2. Incorporate health and a proper diet into your schedule.
A healthy sensory pursuit, exercise helps leaders reduce their anxiety, improve their sleep, and boost their immunity. While it is one of the hardest things to do, maintaining a healthy diet and exercise plan makes a bid difference in how our bodies react to stress.
3. Maintain boundaries between home and work life.
Admittedly this is a hard one for me. The expectations of our jobs have grown significantly into a 24-hour commitment. However, this should not be the case. Start by setting expectations. Share your work hours and preferred communication channels with your team and your elected body. After sharing do your best to keep in control of your schedule to have the down time that you need.
4. Create your personal support group.
Make sure you have a support group in place that is helping you positively cope with stress and leadership. This diverse group can provide different types of support and could include your peers, a family member, or a trusted friend. Our Senior Advisors and Support Coordinators are a great place to start looking for this support.
5. Practice the art of recovery.
Athletes have long understood that pushing oneself hard at 100% capacity, 100% of the time results in little or no long-term gain. Make sure that throughout your day, you give yourself frequent breaks. Get up from your desk and walk around, or get outside for some fresh air. After a large assignment is complete take some time off to refresh.
The work of Local Government is one of the most rewarding professions that one can have, however stress is certainly a factor for all of us. As you continue to work through this stressful budget season I hope that these few tips can keep the work from being overly stressful for you and your staff. I encourage you to pick one or two and gradually incorporate them into your repertoire of healthy practices. Know that any amount of attention to self-care will help you be better in anything you do.