Election Day is a marathon, not a sprint. If you don’t take care of yourself, you’re no good to the rest of the campaign team. While it may seem like this single day is make or break for your campaign (and your career), it really marks the culmination of months of hard work.
Election Day is about running through the tape, but it’s no replacement for building an effective digital campaign over the last few months.
Here are some practical tips for staying focused and energized on Election Day
Physical Health
Election Day is a long day, made tougher by the fact that you’re not sure when it’s going to end. Chances are you haven’t been taking care of yourself in the final few days either. Don’t let that bill come due before the polls close.
Stay hydrated. Take breaks for meals and snacks. Get up from your computer, stretch your legs, and take in some fresh air. These are obvious suggestions, but unfortunately they need to be stated because campaign culture has an unhealthy obsession with self-neglect.
Mental Fitness
You’re not effective at your job if you’re stressed beyond breaking and start to panic. Your campaign team feeds off of your energy – positive and negative.
The more anxious you are, the more anxious your team will become. Conversely, the more confident you are, the more confident your colleagues.
Stay Organized
You’ve got a job to do on Election Day. In order to be effective, you must concentrate on executing – not deliberating. A checklist or run of show for Election Day is essential to staying organized.
Stay Focused
Everyone responds to stressful situations differently. Election Day is not the time for personal arguments or the airing of grievances. Keep focused on your job and ignore everything else.
Channel Nervous Energy
If you’re still nervous and have a few minutes to worry, get out your phone and contact voters. If your campaign is using P2P texting or a call from home app, login and get dialing.
For political professionals, Election Day is a massive, public job performance review and so stress is unavoidable. Take care of yourself physically and mentally and stay laser focused on executing on your role.
Election Day marks the period on the end of the sentence that is a campaign. As a political professional, you must keep that fact in context.
.png){kind=icon}