The Corinthian Events team prepares ahead of an event carefully to alleviate stress during the event itself. Pictured: Members of the team at a nonprofit gala last spring. Courtesy of Courtney Church

Meeting planning is an inherently stressful industry. The constant pressure to deliver flawless events paired with working long hours and consistently meeting tight deadlines can take a toll on our mental and physical well-being. In some cases, this can lead to career burnout — or worse.

Prioritizing your physical and mental well-being, however, shouldn’t be perceived as self-indulgent. Centering self-care helps planners be more productive and energized, and better prepared and positioned to handle the unexpected challenges that are inevitable in meeting planning. Whether it’s a keynote speaker grounded by a canceled flight or a tech glitch at registration, there are some proven best practices to keep the stress at bay and let your self-care skills lead you to success.

Katie McDonald is a Providence, Rhode Island-based keynote presenter and self-care strategist who has experience working with meeting planners. She acknowledges the high-stakes industry intrinsically lends itself to stress, but insists it doesn’t have to be that way.

“I’ve seen firsthand how reactive their days are, all day long in a state of reactivity, and they are fried,” she says. “The fear is that something is going to drop, something’s going to fall, and I think it’s that constant state of vigilance that’s so exhausting.”

Learning how to practice and prioritize self-care, explains McDonald, is the best way to navigate the rigors of meeting planning, and ultimately, reignite one’s passion for their work. “Self-care isn’t selfish. It’s your duty, and that is really the intersection of our well-being and our productivity … We’re investing in the success of an event when we’re investing in how we care for ourselves.”

Burnout is Real

According to a study published by the World Scholarship Vault last year, event planning was ranked as the third-most stressful job in the world. Industry leaders, including Courtney Church, CEO and founding partner of Corinthian Events in Boston, MA, are listening. “I recently had the privilege of listening in on an Exos conference and it’s clear that every industry is suffering from burnout,” Church says. “Being connected 24/7 takes a toll on our bodies and our minds; it’s a new phenomenon. Science-based research is now correlating the importance of rest and recovery for peak performance not only for athletes, but high performers at the office as well.”

Church says some employees at Corinthian Events are better at protecting their time than others, putting their wellness first and managing their time and calendars. “They ironically are the more ‘chill’ of our team and should be used as an example,” she says. But Church notes that the company and industry in general tends to attract driven, motivated, type-A high performers, and they can sometimes have a harder time ending their work day, leaving little time to find balance. “We all go through peaks and valleys of having full work schedules,” says Church, “though the one constant block of time on our schedules should be wellness.”

Event wellness architect and 20-year veteran corporate planner David T. Stevens knows burnout first-hand and the extent to which prioritizing mental health can create a seismic shift. In 2020, he recalls being satisfied with his level of physical fitness, but also being miserable. Somewhat reluctantly, Stevens started meditating, and though that led to him nodding off at first, he also had a breakthrough, not just personally, but professionally. Stevens says when he’d wake up, he found he was grounded and refreshed, and the practice taught him how to breathe with intention. He learned that while fitness and food are important, that’s not the whole picture when it comes to wellness.

Stevens, who co-founded Olympian Meeting in Austin, Texas, says even small exercises can help mitigate challenges as they arise. When someone at a conference or meeting is headed your way and it’s clear there’s an issue, he advises planners to practice “box breathing,” or deep breathing.

The breathwork technique involves deeply inhaling to a count of four, holding for four seconds, slowly exhaling for four seconds, then holding for another four seconds. Repeat for three to four rounds and you’ll likely find your anxiety levels plummet.

“In the time they get to you, you can already have engaged your parasympathetic nervous system, slowed your heart rate, become calm and be ready for whatever is going to be discussed, regardless of where they’re at,” explains Stevens. “You will be in a peaceful spot where you can approach the issue with reason and a calm mindset, so that you don’t just retaliate in that conversation.”

If there’s any doubt about its effectiveness, the breathing technique is endorsed by the U.S. Navy SEALs to de-stress, remain calm, focus clearly and get the nervous system under control.

Setting Boundaries

Setting healthy boundaries and communicating those boundaries with both clients and co-workers helps meeting planners best manage their time and to use their time effectively. Easier said than done.

“One thing we’re really bad at is setting boundaries, and the only thing we’re worse at is enforcing those boundaries,” says Stevens. “We’ve gotten to this place of craziness in our industry where it seems like we’re just at everyone’s beck and call, and we are not. We aren’t servants. We are here to be partners to deliver on an experience that changes people, and that’s what makes a difference.”

Setting boundaries and expectations in advance, he adds, will ensure that people know if they email you at one o’clock in the morning, they’re going to have to wait to hear from you.

Dr. Romie Mushtaq, MD, a neurologist, speaker and author of “The Busy Brain Cure,” says stress serves a purpose, but chronic stress is dangerous.

“Psychologically, in business, being available 24/7 is not considered a healthy work ethic. Once we signal to our clients that we are available on demand, the demands will increase,” says Mushtaq, who became the Chief Wellness Officer at Great Wolf Resorts earlier this year. “Setting boundaries on time is not bad business or disrespectful. When we set boundaries with our time and availability, it signals to clients that we respect both our and their time.”

Mushtaq explains that while acute stress is typical and can even help overcome procrastination, chronic stress should not be considered normal. “We need to rethink wearing stress as a badge of honor. Chronic stress can kill you; it almost killed me.”

Her traumatic experience inspired her to transform the way we think of brain and mental health in the workplace, and was the motivation behind writing her book. “It is important to me as a physician and speaker to reach our meetings and travel industry because I see firsthand the amount of stress that is mislabeled as ‘normal’ or ‘a part of the job.’”

Jamie Pepper, former SVP of Meetings and Coordination at Opal Group in New York City, admits that when traveling on site, meeting planners can have little to no work/life balance, but says that keeping perspective and being realistic about the demands make all the difference.

“I think that, if you have that expectation going in, it’s manageable, because you know what you signed up for,” says Pepper. But when not in event mode, Pepper, a mother of two children, made one major shift that’s been a wellness game changer: she deleted her email app off her smartphone.

“I’m not getting your email at seven in the morning, and I’m not expected to respond to you. I think that that is critical in your work-life balance,” explains Pepper. “When I travel I have it, but outside of a program, I do not.”

Preparation is Key

For Church, the key to keeping stress levels manageable going into an event is all about checks and balances. With nearly 25 years in the industry, Church and her team have developed protocols to set them up for success so they are well prepared going into an event. “Ten days before any program, we have a pre-event meeting involving an executive team member who may or may not know anything about the event. They will listen, review, punch holes and generally ‘sanity check’ each job,” she says. “It provides a level of security with fresh eyes, ‘blessing’ the event.” Following the templates they’ve designed, Church says the Corinthian Events team goes into programs “with a sense of calm and alignment.”

But even the best-laid plans can detour. McDonald explains that meeting planners work tirelessly to deliver successful events by meticulously preparing down to the most minute detail, but ultimately, there are things out of their control, and that’s where burnout typically manifests. “Meeting planners can control everything to the degree that they can, but there are all of these outside forces, so there is a chronic state of vulnerability and a sense of lack of control with this expectation of constant control,” she says. “Think about it: you’re at an event — even if you’re just attending an event — you’re running around. The first thing that goes is our well-being and self-care, and that’s the very thing that we need to double down on in order to have the kind of day that we need to produce.”

Allocating time to tend to one’s needs and taking the steps that make them feel their best selves typically pays off in spades. “I really encourage all of us to just take a moment, even if it’s just for the length of time it takes to prepare and consume a cup of tea — often my measurement of time with ourselves — which feels excruciating for high achievers because we’re not doing anything. It is actually investing in our business. We’re investing in the success of a meeting or event when we’re investing in how we care for ourselves.”

Changes Start Today

Taking time to reset and recharge is critical to creating balance. “A few years ago, we implemented ‘Open’ or ‘Responsible PTO,’ allowing our team to take the time they need to re-energize and find some breathing room,” says Church. “While many still don’t take advantage of this, we do our best to really push our team to take this time.”

Corinthian Events operates in a hybrid work week for employees, which allows them to have what Church calls “you do you” days, where employees can work at home or where they need to.

“We have morning ‘Vuddles’ — a virtual stand up huddle — twice a week where the whole team joins a Zoom and we either play a fun game or share interesting stories from the weekend or what we are excited about. It’s generally a time to bond, have some fun and take a breath. We plan great team outings and gatherings to play, build trust and let our hair down,” says Church.

Taking Action

McDonald says the first step over-stressed meeting planners can take is start with self-awareness. “And the only way that we gain self awareness is when we actually spend time with ourselves, which is the one relationship we tend to ignore the most,” she explains.

McDonald also suggests building decompression time into the event or conference post-mortem meeting, just like any other task. “I know they have a post-event protocol, but I’m not sure that they show up on that list,” she says. “It’s important to add time to recharge to their post event protocol and to replenish after this major exertion.”

Another step that seems simple but many meeting planners deprive themselves of often: sleep. “When you start prioritizing self care and looking out for yourself, which is not selfish, that’s going to empower you to be even better and brighter and smarter and faster, and you’re going to get things done in less time, because you have brain power, because you let your brain reset,” explains Stevens.

Though a uniquely demanding industry, meeting planners who prioritize their physical and psychological well-being will see a remarkable return on investment, both personally and professionally. C&IT