However, what I’ve learnt over my 15 years in the events industry is that stress and anxiety can usually be avoided or at least managed by being organised and proactive. The fastest way to ease anxiety is to start the task, break the problem down and do the thing.

At my events agency, Planit, when we’re gearing up for a major event, there’s no stress. Why? Because we’ve planned well. Resources were allocated in advance, timelines were realistic, the client is aligned, and everyone knows what’s expected. There’s no panic, the situation is under control, and with control comes calm.

Stress management = asking, “is this in my control?”

Stress is a universal experience, but not all stress is created equal. Sometimes it’s down to poor planning and sometimes it’s completely out of our control.

Obsessing over things outside your control only leads to anxiety. You can control how early you start a project, hitting all your deadlines but what you can’t control is stakeholders, changing direction, suppliers letting you down or unexpected bumps in the road. We can, though, control how we respond.

The key to managing stress effectively in my opinion is to figure out what kind of stress you’re dealing with in the first place and use the right strategies to deal with it.

1. Stress from poor planning – in your control

Possibly the most common but most avoidable form of stress. These are your last-minute deadlines, forgotten tasks, or double-booked meetings situations. It’s not the work, it’s the chaos of so many plates. 

If your stress is the result of disorganisation or procrastination, the solution is simple: plan better. Do you have a helicopter view of your projects? Are they mapped out side by side, so you can spot overlaps, gaps or unrealistic timelines before they turn into fires? Using proper planning tools, breaking big tasks down and time blocking forces you to plan better and highlights inefficiencies.

Finally, clear communication with your team is the glue that holds it all together, whether you’re managing down or up, knowing when to say something is key and you need the information to do so. “I’ve noticed that we have a big clash coming up, we need more resource or tasks need to be redistributed”

2. Unexpected Stress – out of your control

Life is unpredictable, things go wrong and emergencies happen. This is the kind of stress that comes from a tech failure moments before a big event or a personal crisis that disrupts your routine.

This is where resilience and good habits come in. Keeping calm under pressure is not only key to your own stress management, but if you’re running a team or a company, then you’re the person the team will look to when the worst happens, and you need to keep calm for them.

Do you know how to alleviate your stress? I literally shake it out, body shaking resets my nervous system, gets the adrenaline moving. Then I do a simple breathing technique: in for four, hold for four, out for four. It brings me back to earth so I can get into solution mode, fast.

3. Stress forced on you vs self-inflicted stress

Stress put on you by life, clients, unrealistic workloads, or toxic environments can be out of your control, but internal stresses like perfectionism, overthinking and procrastination – they’re on you!

You can’t always change external pressures, but you can set boundaries and be clear about your expectations. Internal stress requires self-awareness: Are you creating your own chaos by putting things off or striving for perfection? The stress you feel may not be about the situation, it could be about how you're reacting to it.

Stress isn’t always a sign that something is wrong – but it is always a signal that something needs attention. By asking, ‘what kind of stress is this? Is it within my control?’ you can take control, and with control comes confidence and peace of mind.

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