Fall is a busy time of year for ticketing professionals. It brings concert tours across the country, MLB postseason action, the return of NHL hockey, anticipation for the NBA season, and the approach of holiday programming in the performing arts. All of this incredible entertainment brings an intense schedule, packed with long hours, high demands and unforeseen challenges. Taking control of the situation is critical if you feel stressed, whether by your job or something more personal.
Here are eight tips to help address stress, build emotional strength, and keep a healthy life-work balance in ticketing:
1. Prioritize self-care. This is essential to maintain mental, emotional and physical well-being, especially in the high-energy, deadline-driven ticketing industry.
“Finding small ways to incorporate self-care into your day is the best way to start managing your stress,” Kay Burnham, who founded Perceiving Possibilities after 30+ years in live entertainment leadership and customer service, says. “Building even 10 minutes into your routine before bedtime to release and process the stress from the day in whatever healthy way works for you can set you up for better sleep and reduce the physical feelings of stress.” Kay Burnham
2. Embrace movement. Staying active is crucial for managing stress and promoting overall well-being, as it helps us channel our energy, more effectively process our emotions and keep fit.
“Moving our bodies in whatever way is possible for each individual is essential to moving our energy, processing emotions and maintaining our physical health,” Burnham emphasizes. “All of this helps reduce the amount of stress we carry with us from day to day. Physical activity doesn’t have to mean traditional exercise. Park in the farthest parking spot, take the stairs or lift your full water bottle in one arm while sitting and reading emails. Start small and build.”
Burnham also advises against doing physical activities you don’t enjoy because it defeats the purpose. When you force yourself into exercises you dislike, it can be harder to create consistent habits and a healthy relationship with movement.
3. Connect with and help others. A strong support network that includes ticketing peers, other colleagues, friends and family can ease your mind and provide fresh perspectives. Engaging in activities with people you enjoy can help you unwind and reduce stress, and sharing ideas with others can offer pathways and solutions to the challenges you are facing.
“One of the fastest ways for stress to get out of control is to believe that you are alone in handling any situation,” Burnham explains. “When you build a support squad from different areas of your life and with various backgrounds, you do not feel alone, and you lower your stress by knowing you have the resources to ask for assistance.”
Think about how you can help others, too. This may include volunteering, community work or going on a coffee run for your team. Giving back is not only a kind gesture — it plays a significant role in enhancing our own well-being.
“Scientifically, when we turn outside ourselves to help others, we release happy-making chemicals in our brains,” Burnham says.
4. Challenge yourself. You can do all kinds of things when it comes to setting goals, whether at work or in your personal life. This may include learning a new language, trying a new type of food, taking up a new sport, diving into a professional development course or anything in between. New experiences and achievements build greater confidence, which can help you better handle stress.
“Growth and discovery only come from challenging yourself,” Burnham explains. “The key is that the challenge doesn’t have to be significant. Any new experience helps widen your comfort zone, and the wider your comfort zone, the less stress you have and the more of life you get to experience.”
5. “Switch off” when you are off work. By prioritizing your time away from the ticket office, you can create a healthier life-work balance and a more sustainable, fulfilling approach to your life and work.
“Make technology your friend,” Burnham recommends. “Unless your job requires you to be ‘on call’ through all communication channels, turn off email and other work notifications when you are on your time off. Let your team know how to reach you if they need you and define precisely what that looks like for you and them.”
6. Prioritize communication and lead by example. While you are working to bust away your stress, creating a supportive work environment for your team is essential, too.
“Open, clear communication is the best first step in managing stress,” Burnham explains. “Make sure that expectations are clear, and lead by example. If you encourage your team to disconnect when off the clock, ensure you disconnect as well and do not send emails during your days off.”
7. Remain positive. Look for the good in life and all the things you are grateful for. And while maintaining a positive outlook is important, it is also helpful to remember that an unbalanced approach can foster negative outcomes.
“I’m a very positive person, and positivity is powerful,” Burnham shares. “However, there is a dark side to positivity. When positivity is used to shut down concerns instead of dealing with them or ignoring difficult emotions [or] conversations, it turns toxic. Like everything else, how you wield your power of positivity is what matters.”
8. Acceptance and rest. Recognizing the unique challenges of a career in ticketing is critical for personal well-being. Ultimately, it paves the way for acceptance and the rest you need to thrive.
“Accept that you work in a high-stress job,” Burnham says. “It may not be actual life-or-death, but we know that to many of our patrons, it feels that way. Accepting that your job is high stress allows you to start giving yourself the support you need. The key is that there is a difference between knowing and accepting. We can know our job is high stress but fall into the trap of unconsciously thinking that because it is ‘only tickets,’ we don’t have the right to feel this stress, and therefore, we push aside the rest we may need.”
By embracing these eight stress-busting strategies, ticketing professionals can create a healthier life-work balance, leading to an even more rewarding and fulfilling career in the fast-paced world of entertainment and live events.
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