Digital marketing can be a demanding job. Add in year-end deadlines, and the mounting pressure can make you want to pop. Working in a successful business requires staying on track with reporting, customer reach, communication, and a slew of other items. It’s no wonder the pressure can feel overwhelming as year-end approaches. Add in a job like digital marketing that requires multiple workloads, demanding clients, and short deadlines, then it’s no wonder workers experience burnout.

Managing stress (ansiedad en español) , especially during deadlines, can help keep burnout away. No one wants to be hit with a heavy stress load that turns into burnout which causes your production to tank and co-workers to be frustrated. Taking care of yourself should be high on your list of priorities because managing a stressful job entails making sure your mental health is up to the task. If that’s something you’re struggling with, read on. Below you’ll find a few helpful tips to keep stress low during those heavy deadlines.

Get Organized

It may seem like a no-brainer to some, but working in a chaotic space breeds chaos. Your mind is more likely to feel overwhelmed if you’re in a space that is in disarray. Before you tackle the job, take a few moments to clear your space and prepare for work. Much like clearing the mind, an organized space allows you to think without distraction. Achieving this can be as easy as tidying up your desk and putting in a custom drawer organizer to keep the clutter to a minimum. How frustrated do you become when you need a pen or sticky note, and you have to rummage around in your drawer to find it? Keeping things tidy eliminates unnecessary stress leaving your mind able to focus on the task at hand.

Get Sleep

If you have deadlines approaching, then you need your rest to be able to tackle the assignments with mental clarity. Staying up too late or not allowing yourself to unwind before bed will affect how you work the next day. Fewer task completion, reduced efficiency and lesser motivation to do work can be Effects of Poor Sleep. High-stress deadlines or tasks require focus and organization. If you are too tired to function, then you’ll only slip further behind.

Not only is sleep great for your mental clarity, but it allows your body to unwind and prevents stress from getting worse.

Take Breaks

Rushing through lunch or skipping your breaks may seem like a good idea when you’re on a deadline. Unfortunately, if you skip your breaks, you might as well go back to not sleeping the night before. Your mind needs to step away and recharge to keep handling tasks at a productive level. Pushing through items when your start to feel yourself struggle with focus, will only make focusing that much harder.

Breaks give you a moment to breathe, refuel, and look at tasks with a fresh perspective. Don’t skip your breaks unless you want to feel the stress add up. Taking your lunchtime and utilizing your breaks will help you stay calm and ready to tackle the rest of the day.

Delegate

Sometimes you’re doing more than you need to do. If there is something that you’re handling but can be delegated, let it go. You need to focus on productivity and use your time wisely. What seems like something that will only take a few extra minutes can turn into an hour or two if you’re consistently handling things you don’t need to be.

Prioritize what’s most important for your year-end deadlines and delegate as necessary. Stress amounts to feeling rushed and overwhelmed but if you stay organized and manage your job duties appropriately, you’ll find yourself breathing easier.

Year-end stress can happen to anyone, especially those who work high-stress jobs. Taking care of yourself and organizing your space will help you function with better mental clarity. Sleeping the night before and taking appropriate breaks will help your productivity. If you focus on these few things, then you’ll keep burnout far away.