Work is a part of life and life is a part of work.
The Blue Planet PR team prioritise integrating work into life – allowing them to bring their best selves to work and keep kicking goals for their clients. For Blue Planet PR Founder and Director Sophie Blue, her team’s culture is a huge point of pride in an industry notorious for burnout and when many Australians are experiencing a general sense of exhaustion and fatigue from living through a pandemic.
Here are some of the ways they make this happen:
Support Systems.
“Don’t try and do it all, especially if you have children. Have a strong support system that can step in to look after the kids, pick up groceries, cook dinner, whatever is needed.” – Sophie Blue, Blue Planet PR Founder and Director.
Every working woman with children knows her career is only possible by cultivating her support system. Whether its partners, family members, caregivers, neighbours or cleaners, she needs to work with them as a team to ensure that the home and work fronts thrive.
Exercise.
“With my little people, we’ve started morning stretching as a family. It relaxes bodies for the school and work day ahead, and we have some laughs along the way.” – Maria Crema, Blue Planet PR Account Manager
The positive impacts of exercise on mental health are nothing new. Exercise has been shown to increase mood, self-concept, productivity and wellbeing. Whether it’s walking, stretching, running, pilates or boxing; solo or group exercise that floats your boat – it’s important to move your body each day, in a way you enjoy.
Time Management.
“Google Calendar is my best friend. I time box everything across work and life. This allows me to prioritise, focus solely on the task at hand and relieve my mind from stressing that I’m forgetting anything.” – Sophia Stewart-Kasimba, Blue Planet PR Account Manager.
Rather than working more, time management allows you to be your most effective. A key time management strategy, timeboxing forces you to consider your priorities, estimate how long each task will take to complete so that you don’t over-estimate how much you can get done in a day and feel overwhelmed by your unachievable to-do list, and commit to when you’re going to work on each task.
Creative Outlets.
“I love making bead, polymer clay and chain maille jewelry. Lately, I’ve been delving into dot mandala art and resin work. It’s so relaxing for my mind.” – Cathryn Buchanan, Blue Planet PR Senior Account Executive
Stimulating your brain in different ways through creative outlets can be really beneficial for your emotional, psychological and physical wellbeing. Benefits include sharpening your mind by heightening connectivity between the left and right sides of the brain, improving your mood, combatting anxiety by becoming so immersed in the task at hand, and improving coordination. Whether you have a natural talent or are a first time artist, set aside some time for artistic expression and build up your creative capacity!
Flexibility.
One thing that all of the team agreed on is the importance of being flexible. Inevitably; work, family or life will throw you a curveball that you hadn’t planned for. Approaching your day with flexibility allows you to respond creatively, swimming with the tide as opposed to against it.
We would love to hear your tips for integrating work and life, leave a comment on our latest IG post: @blueplanetpr.
