Is Content Marketing Stress Catching Up to You?
It’s well-documented by medical and psychological professionals that too much stress harms your health. And while a little stress never hurt anyone and may even save your life in the right circumstances, chronic stress delivers some dangerous long-term consequences. And for web developers and content marketing pros who face stress on a daily basis, those consequences can come with a pretty high price tag.
Back when humans still struggled to survive their environment, a saber-toothed tiger attack stressed the body to respond with flight, fight or freeze. This built-in survival instinct is the reason humans aren’t extinct today. And that same response can still save your skin save you should ever find yourself down a dark alley in Detroit at night.
Danger, Danger!
Your body doesn’t know the difference between an imminent attack by a tiger or the looming deadlines of a website going live. It’s going to react with the same stress responses that makes your:
- Heart rate increase and blood pressure rise
- Muscles tense and breathing become rapid
- Adrenaline pump and senses heighten
The real danger for content marketing creatives and technical workers lies in your response to these bodily changes. Stress in technical careers is particularly high. Left unabated, they’ll take a pound of flesh as payment. There are many reasons why web developers, content providers, coders and project managers undergo such high levels of stress, including:>/p>
- Rapidly changing algorithms and tech tools you’re expected to master
- Understaffing and employee turnover
- Client pressure
- Approaching deadlines
- Security issues
- Lack of support
- High demand
The Irony for Web Developers
The reasons you got into the content marketing field may be the same reasons you’re thinking of chucking it all now to go dig ditches instead. While you love the challenges inherent in working in the internet industry, the pace is brutal. And while you like being in demand for your skills, sometimes, you just want to be invisible, even if for a long weekend.
The more clients you have, the more deadlines you have to meet. If you work in the corporate tech arena, you’re lucky if the big dogs even understand the support you need to give them what they want. And if you’re among the top web developers in your field, there are all those untalented wonks you’re constantly training — until you resort to the last resort as many web developers do and say “never mind, I’ll just do it myself.”
Mind over Matter Management
There’s little you can do about the rapid-fire changes in the tech industry. New devices, apps and algorithms come at you so fast, you barely have time to finish your morning cuppa java. The trick to avoiding burn-out (or a heart attack) is to manage those things you can control — which usually means YOU, the only thing you total control over in any situation. You control how you react to and think about the changes, the pressure, the competition and the completion of each project.
You control your health and how you take care of your body, soul and mind. You control the pace at which you’re willing to work. You say when it’s time for a break, a vacation, a little less screen time. You are in demand, so you aren’t the one who has to worry about job security.
Tips for Web Developers to Manage Stress
Like the flyer who first puts the oxygen mask on herself to save less-able passengers, you’ve got to take care of yourself to avoid the consequences of chronic stress that range from headaches and back pain to insomnia and anxiety. Tips that work for all humans to reduce the risks of too much stress are good for you too.
So take these tips to heart. They may work for you, while encouraging you to take your content marketing skills to the next level. Plus, you get to enjoy your life, staying healthy and keeping your job, by:
- Get physical. Most gyms are open from early morning until late at night, some even 24/7. Make it a regular habit to go. Ask for a gym membership as a non-negotiable term of your employment.
- Peace out. Find your happy place, preferably one that doesn’t require you to stare at a screen. Join an Ashram or do yoga. Walk a labyrinth. Build a little, calm altar that allows for peaceful, quiet meditation. Anything you can do to stay centered and calm pays dividends in your stress levels.
- Laugh out loud. Check out the local comedy club on a regular basis. Subscribe to a joke-a-day blog. Watch funny movies. Learn to tell jokes. When something strikes your funny bone, laugh as if no one’s watching.
- Just hang. Spending time with friends and family provide a wonderful break from the stress that solitary web developers must endure. Seek those people who make you laugh, who let you feel relaxed and who bring you fulfillment.
- Dance to be free. Get a hobby. Learn a new dance technique. Garden, paint, play music, whatever. Do anything unrelated to content marketing to free your brain and your break your concentration. This technique also sharpens your creativity.
Ray Access is a content marketing firm that delivers targeted words that empower your business to succeed. Contact us about your specific project to receive a quote. We write website copy, blog posts, e-newsletters, and more, with cross-links and thorough internet research.
