Irwin Pollack, a Boston-based radio sales and management trainer, lost his battle with cancer on Wednesday, January 18, 2017. He was a beloved contributor to Radio & Records in the early 2000s. Through his consultancy, Irwin provided hands-on, results-oriented seminars and in-house advisement for group heads and individual stations alike.
He also penned columns on how to reduce stress. Given the challenges many in broadcast media have been faced with due to the novel coronavirus, we are pleased to share several ways Pollack believed one could best deal with tension, strain and pressure in challenging times.
In October 1996, Pollack shared in a column for R&R that stress has always been a challenge for marketing directors and other radio executives. But, it had increased in the first four years of the Clinton Administration because of increased format competition, downsizing, and other economic trends.
“When the issue of stress comes up, most of us associate that with Type -A behavior,” Pollack wrote. “Keep in mind, having Type -A personality tendencies is not a bad thing, you just have to learn to control life’s stresses and learn to keep things in perspective.”
Indeed, we are all under some stress, some certainly more than others. The key, Pollack said, is to regularly reduce it and gain a balanced perspective on life. “Achievement in one area of your life is not worth killing yourself for, even if you die wealthy,” he noted.
Recall those Friends-era office posters: Underneath the picture of a toddler standing near a lake, one read, “One hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the car I drove… But the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”
With many media professionals sequestered at home in quarantine with children, pausing to reflect on where the world is today, and where it will be once the COVID-19 pandemic concludes, could bring a sense of peace and renewed confidence that, just possibly, what we are collectively doing is for the benefit of mankind and of Earth.
No matter how difficult the following advice may appear in this times, Pollack’s tips still resonate for those unaccustomed with working from home, and are still adjusting to the change in scenery.
Several have been updated to connect to today’s coronavirus pandemic situation.
- Learn to enjoy work and feel good about it rather than perceiving it as a deadline, a responsibility, and an obligation. Work can be a lot more fun if we approach it with the
enthusiasm, curiosity, and openness of children. - Set goals and write them down. Take stock of your activities and determine which offer the highest payoff. Set goals for these and get rid of as much “busy work” as you can.
- Reduce alcohol, fat, cholesterol, and salt intake to improve health.
- Spend more time with family and friends (via FaceTime, Zoom, phone or text). People are very important. Keep those connections fun and healthy.
- Exercise regularly. Even if it’s a vigorous walk for 30 minutes three times a week in an area devoid of crowds, to maintain social distancing, exercise makes you stronger in every way.
- Much stress is self-induced. Accept yourself and your work and don’t strive for perfection in every small thing. Rule of thumb: Some areas need to be perfect and some need only to be “close enough.”
- Eat lunch away from where you are working in your home. Lunch should be an hour-long
vacation. Keep your phone at your laptop. - Accept the things out of your control.
- If a stressful event is approaching, visualize yourself doing it well and in a relaxed manner.
- Take time to relax. Close your eyes and meditate, or just take a snooze for a few minutes.
- The cinematic classic “Stripes” is famous for the line, “Lighten up, Francis.” Pollack said, “Although this is difficult advice to execute, it is most important. Keep things in perspective — the right perspective.” Understand that all is not normal, but you are doing your best to keep operations as normal as possible.
- Delegate when possible.
- Don’t let stress ruin your day and the good parts that have come with it. If you do, you’ve given in to the fact that the stress is stronger than you are.
Pollack concluded by writing, “The secret in it all is to recognize the need to change, but change yourself slowly. You cannot adopt five or six new behaviors overnight. Take them one at a time, and before you know it you’ll be a new person.”
We look back on his advice with one swipe of the editor’s pen. We don’t believe one should be “new” at this time. We believe people should be the best version of themselves. This mantra will yield rich dividends after the COVID-19 pandemic, for one’s self and for their professional and personal relationships.
Start your day with a three-minute meditation. Kiss your loved ones when you rise, and when you retire. And, stay positive.
This will only help as you and your team navigate through uncharted waters, with the sun-filled end in the distance slowing coming to fruition, following a great storm.
