CEO to CEO.

Q: Are you experiencing more stress now than ever before? What are your coping mechanisms for dealing with it?

Yes. I usually thrive on juggling a lot of balls in the air, but the past few months have been frenetic. Our association issues are expanding and our resource base is declining, producing challenges and accompanying stress. Generally I try to prioritize projects, address them in a macro fashion, and delegate the details. However, a high number of issues require substantive input from me beyond the framework of problem solving. I do a quick review of all current projects and write a note of what is necessary to resolve each issue. Just knowing what needs to be done relieves some of the pressure from the amount of work I face.

We hold staff retreats about four times a year and during these we streamline current projects and attempt to create new systems to deal with them. These often involve several staff in a team approach.

Patricia Aiken O'Neill President and Chief Executive Officer, Eye Bank Association of America, Washington, D.C.; [e-mail]

Stress is a consistent facet of association life. My coping mechanism has always been: Do not panic; assess the problem (is it perceived or real?); identify options, ranging from doing nothing to abandoning the effort to everything in between; and finally, identify the best option. It's a challenge to identify those things you can change and influence versus those outside of your control. Problems will always arise, we just have to know how to deal with them without being surprised.

Terrance Barkan European Bureau Director, International Facility Management Association European Bureau, European Association Services, Brussels; [e-mail]

I'm reminded of Eleanor Roosevelt's famous quote, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Stress more often than not comes from the expectations of others, or demands you make on yourself. Those of us in the association world certainly do not lack for demands or expectations. However, developing an awareness of the pressures you allow to be placed on yourself helps strengthen coping mechanisms. Self-awareness gives you the capacity to achieve a critical distance from stressors and makes you less likely to enter into a reactive mode.

Developing this awareness is a discipline, like meditation or yoga, that takes consistent mindful practice. Nonetheless, we all have days when the world gets the best of us. When that happens, the best antidote for me is a hard workout at the gym followed by a night on the couch with Coltrane on the stereo, the cat on my lap, and The New Yorker in my hand.

Susan E. Fox, CAE Executive Director, Society of American Archivists, Chicago; [e-mail]

There is definitely more stress in today's environment. Rapid change across the board, accelerating changes in technology, increasing demands from members for more and better services, less time for volunteers to lend a helping hand, increasing risks for travel and the implications for meetings, and on and on. And that's just the stress in our professional lives. We also face a number of challenges in our personal lives, including increased demands on our time.

Dealing with stress becomes more of a challenge every day. I do two things: I take at least a half hour every day for myself in silence just to get my thoughts together. That usually happens on my three-mile walk. I also take my vacations without fail, even if it ends up as time at home. I do not take calls, I don't do anything work-related, and I do things I enjoy doing. I also insist that my staff take their vacation time. It is necessary to recharge the batteries and get rid of the stress. So much of stress is mental that sometimes just thinking of something else can help relieve it.

Bob Benedict, CAE Executive Director, National Pawnbrokers Association, Dallas; [e-mail]