Time Management

Time management is important in any career, really in any life. There is always a balance to maintain. This being the last semester of my senior year, I am really learning the importance of time management.

Public Relations is a field of juggling. Multitasking is not an option, because something gets slighted. That is where time management comes into play. The key with great time management is to plan with such detail that it looks as though you are multitasking.

If I have learned anything this year it is to focus on one thing at a time. To plan exactly what time I am working on everything. I cannot check my email and respond every hour. I must have a specific time to respond to emails, or I will waste hours responding to emails.

I read a PR blog about the time management of a new PR Professional.
They broke down some of the important tasks to take on each day

1.) Social Media: It is timely and important to stay up date. This is something that should be scheduled in the day frequently.

2.) Editorial Work: I am constantly writing and editing differnt publications or documents. It is imperative to set aside time for this work.

3.) Look at the bigger picture and track success: With many projects going on at one time, I have to examine the progress every day.

Time management has to leave room for flexibility too. Although much of life can be scheduled in the field of PR things are ever changing and I have to be ready to change at a moments notice.

For best results...repeat

Dream. Research. Brainstorm. Create. Hate. Trash. Revise. Recreate. For best results...Repeat.

My personal recipe for creativity.

I was reading the blog of a PR student and was inspired to think about creativity in public relations.

Public relations is a field of creativity. Some people argue that the field of PR stifles creativity. In Public Relations you are at the mercy of the media to portray your company in whatever light they choose. They argue that this causes a PR professional to merely play the game of the media rather than use creativity. I could not disagree more.

It is a field in which you have to know your audience. Depending on who you are representing your audience might be the media, but it could also be the public. In order to create any kind of publicity you have to have something unique to draw them in. A new twist on an old company, a innovative event, a unique selling point on a story. To get the media to pay attention you might have to play by the rules: writing a press release, inviting media, preparing information for them, but in order to get the media to pay attention creativity had to take place beforehand.

Creativity can be an exhausting process. It is a personal experience, but not always a personal expression. In public relations I have learned it's really important to realize that it's not about you. You can come up with 100 different creative ideas, you've got passion them and they feel like they are a piece of you and each one can be turned down by the client or by the media. So it's back to the same process. The same exhausting, passion filled, slightly crazy, but really fun process.

Dream. Research. Brainstorm. Create. Hate. Trash. Revise. Recreate. For best results...Repeat.