Communications Burnout Is Real. Here Are a Few Ways to Relieve the Pressure

Some EO Report articles we write for you. Some we write as a reminder to us. Communications is a hard field. We operate in a 24/7 news cycle. Our work is publicly broadcast, along with all of the typos and missteps that others get to make more privately. And in many ways, we are the keepers of our organization’s reputation.

That’s a lot of pressure.

In 2024, Muck Rack surveyed more than 1,500 PR professionals and found some sobering realities about what that pressure looks like in practice:

• Roughly 8 in 10 communications professionals work outside regular business hours at least once a week.

• 58% work more than 40 hours per week, and one in ten report working more than 51 hours.

• 75% of agency professionals report high stress, most commonly rating it an 8 out of 10.

• 71% of in-house professionals also report high stress, with 6 out of 10 being the most common rating.

And there’s another layer to this kind of burnout: there’s no escaping the news.

On weeks when the news cycle feels especially heavy, you may hear colleagues say they’re turning off the TV or logging off social media.

Communications professionals don’t have that luxury.

Monitoring headlines, tracking sentiment, and watching trends isn’t optional. It’s the job. And that means that regardless of what your organization does or stands for, you’re still immersed in a news feed filled with the weight of the world.

For those on small communications teams or teams of one, that burden compounds quickly. Without backups, you’re expected to be everywhere at once: media relations, social media, internal communications, crisis response, content creation, and more. Stepping away can feel impossible.

So how does anyone take a break when the work never really stops?

Small Steps That Actually Help

There’s no silver bullet for burnout in communications. But there are ways to make it more manageable.

1. Start small.
If the idea of stepping away for an extended period makes your blood pressure rise, start with an hour. Maybe two, if you’re feeling brave.

Put your phone face down. Close the news tab. If needed, let relevant colleagues know you’ll be offline briefly. You may be surprised by how often you instinctively reach for your device and how restorative even a short pause can be.

2. Train backups, even outside the comms team.
A backup doesn’t have to be another communications professional. A trusted colleague can be trained to monitor social media tags or comments during a night or weekend off.

With clear guidelines in place, they can flag issues, follow pre-agreed actions, involve a supervisor, or if it’s truly urgent, reach out to you directly. Knowing someone has eyes on things makes stepping away possible.

3. Ask for tools that carry some of the load.
No tool will solve burnout entirely, but the right ones can help.

Software that monitors mentions, sentiment, and trends can reduce the need for constant scrolling and manual checking. It’s not a luxury – it’s infrastructure that supports sustainable work.

4. Take your health seriously.
Yes, every internet article says this. And yes, it still matters.

Staying hydrated, eating regularly, getting rest, and taking a walk now and then all improve your ability to cope with stress. The same goes for mental health. If things feel heavy, use the resources available to you like health insurance, an employee assistance program, PTO, or other support systems.

The Work Matters. So Do the People Doing It.

Burnout in communications is real, and it deserves to be treated as such.

If we want strong communications, we have to build conditions where communicators can actually sustain their work without sacrificing their health in the process.

The field needs your skills. But it also needs you well enough to keep using them.