As you walk around your campus, are you ever struck by how many students, faculty, and staff are on their phones, unaware of what's going on around them? Or are you too immersed in your own digital device to notice?

It's understandable if you are. The tsunami of social media and tech advances can make it hard to shut off, whether you are a student suffering from FOMO (fear of missing out) or an advancement professional who wants to be responsive to every tweet, post, and comment. But this 24/7 plugged-in mindset can come with a mental health cost—one that is starting to be acknowledged more openly.

Universities UK, whose members are university vice-chancellors and principals, recently launched a student and staff framework that calls for every institution to make mental health a strategic priority. The #stepchange vision calls, in part, for higher education institutions to "be inclusive and supportive learning communities, prioritising mental health for everyone who lives, learns, or works in our organisations, offering access to excellent support and care for those who need it, laying the foundation for lifelong mental health." Four U.K. universities are currently piloting #stepchange, and the University of York is one of the first to implement the framework.

This is a positive step. But what can those of us working in our institutions' fast-paced digital worlds do in our own lives to prioritize our mental well-being while also staying on top of our responsibilities? It can be a difficult balancing act.

At the 2017 CASE Europe Annual Conference in the U.K., I hosted a breakfast roundtable on health and well-being for those in higher education communications. Topics included presenteeism (staying at your desk longer than your contracted hours), building personal resilience, exercise and productivity, meeting expectations, and supporting colleagues with poor mental health.

Here are 10 takeaways from the session, as well as from my own experience, that I hope can help you create a better work-life balance:

1. Figure Out How to Deal With Stressful Situations

Some communications professionals at the roundtable said that working in high-pressure environments such as newsrooms has helped them deal with the demands of their current role. Experiencing and overcoming adversity is how we develop coping mechanisms to handle stressful situations.

Earlier in my career, I held a digital role within the U.K. government that required frequent emergency shift work as part of a regional communications team. I was working on a contract basis and eager to secure a permanent role on a team I loved. But the extra shifts, while exhilarating, took a lot out of me mentally and physically. During core office hours, the adrenaline of the previous day or night was replaced with a pile of work I needed to finish to meet the expectations of internal and external customers.

After struggling with my load, I spoke with my customers about the off-hours tasks I was performing, which were helping the wider business. Once they understood the situation, they were more receptive to helping me deal efficiently with any backlogs.

2. Honestly Assess Your Social Media Consumption

As a digital communications professional, you need to master channels and apps and stay on top of the news. When I reviewed my own habits around social media use, I found that I was spending much of my time glued to timelines and feeds, consuming content. I now focus less on consuming and more on creating content within new apps, testing approaches that could be used on institutional channels.

I also sought clarification from managers about responsibilities for monitoring channels during evenings and weekends, as well as customer service guidelines. Sharing this information with my communications colleagues and senior staff helped them better understand the digital and social media teams' workloads and responsibilities.

3. Help Beat the Stigma and Start Talking

According to a February 2017 #FuturePRoof report for the U.K. PR and communications professionals association PRCA, 56.7 percent of PR and communications professionals are uncomfortable or very uncomfortable talking with colleagues about their own mental health. This needs to change. If you're struggling or feeling overwhelmed at work, speak to a trusted colleague, your boss, or staff support services. It's the first step to getting back on track.

4. Clarify Expectations

More than one member of the roundtable discussed the difficulty of meeting unrealistic expectations set by senior management. Are you educating those around you about media, content, and audience trends? Does senior management understand what you do, the size of your team, and what can (realistically) be achieved?

I'm now much more open with managers about my well-being and workload. "Speaking truth to power" isn't easy, but it's vitally important to challenge unclear or unrealistic expectations.

5. Leave Your Work Bubble at Least Once a Day

Go for a walk around campus, and check in with teams across your institution with whom you rarely interact. You might learn something you didn't know that could help you do your job.

I've regularly found great content or a news tip by popping into the Students' Union communications team room or knocking on academics' doors. Everyone's so swamped with email and other priorities, but being visible on campus can help you find stories that might not otherwise see the light of day.

6. Challenge Internal Culture

Is presenteeism (being at your desk for more hours than the job requires or when you're sick or otherwise not able to be productive) the norm at your institution? One roundtable participant asked the group if presenteeism is linked to job advancement. The group agreed that dedication and going above and beyond won't harm your career prospects, but staying at your desk longer than required will likely affect both physical and mental health.

7. Get Moving

One roundtable participant raved about how a lunchtime running club has helped relieve stress and spur connections with colleagues. If you can't get out at lunch, jogging or walking a mile or two in the morning or evening gets the blood flowing and settles the mind. According to a Cyclescheme study, 33 percent of respondents believe that those who bike or walk to work are more productive than non-cyclists/-walkers. I break up my commute with running and cycling, and I sign up for races to give me training goals.

8. Get Organized

Drowning under work tasks can lead to extra anxiety and stress. Take 10 minutes each morning to prioritize tasks, and consider using an app like Trello to stay on top of deadlines and team workflow. When you are gearing up to go on holiday, get as much done as you can before you go away, so that you aren't leaving too much for those covering for you. But don't fret about nonurgent work that can wait until you get back.

9. Trust Your Professional Instincts

One piece of advice from the CASE conference stuck with me: Use 70 percent of your time at work to do things you are told to do, and use 30 percent for doing things you want to do. The 30 percent could be developing new skills or knowledge or working on projects that could benefit your institution in the future.

10. Find Out If Your Institution Has a Mental Health Policy

According to the #FuturePRoof report, 53 percent of PR and communications professionals are unaware if the leave policy at their workplace specifically addresses mental health. Do you know if yours does? Information is power.

Advice From the Field

Many digital media professionals become accustomed to constantly checking the social media channels under their control—even during off-hours. But is that the best way to operate? The following higher education professionals provide some hard-earned tips for staying on top of work while still having a life outside of it.

Awareness, Acknowledgment, and Action

I used to be on social media day in and day out until my husband called me on it. Awareness leads to acknowledgment. We need to recognize that we are uncomfortable if we don't have our phone with us at all times—even when we walk across campus or go to the bathroom. And maybe laugh a little about that.

After acknowledgment, it's time to assess. Ask yourself honestly how you feel-emotionally, physically, and even spiritually—when you are logging on as a social media professional and when you are logging on to your personal pages. Or do they all blend together? I'll bet it's the second, and it might be hard to differentiate. Are you thriving, logging on with innovation and ideas? Or are you feeling exhausted and uninspired?

If you acknowledge some serious struggles, it's time to have a conversation with your boss. Set boundaries, and maybe shift responsibilities for a couple of weeks-or even a couple of hours! In this final step, you are taking conscious steps to care for yourself.

—Josie Ahlquist, digital leadership author, coach, and speaker; research associate and leadership instructor, Florida State University

Designate Days for Longer-Term Projects

We've found that because social media is constantly "on," it can be difficult for staff to switch off, sleep, and focus on longer-term projects, so I've introduced project days: Each month we dedicate a day for staff to get on top of their workload. They put their out-of-office message on and attend to other work (unless that work is cleaning out the inbox). It has helped us focus on research, communications plans, and campaigns that we don't always get to when in the office.

To ensure that everyone can take their days, the dates for the next six months were added to calendars before staff left for Christmas. The dates are now fixed, with no meetings planned on those days.

—Sue Montgomery, PR and media relations manager, Southampton Solent University

Strategically Use Students

With social media evolving so quickly, our office wanted tighter control over how we navigated strategy and branding. But after watching our students and how well they interact and engage with each other and with the university on social media, I gained a new perspective. I'm now happy to let them help.

Some events happen on the weekends, and I can't always attend. When our women's soccer team competed in the championship game, I asked a student to cover it on Instagram Stories and Snapchat. He captured one of our players scoring a goal and then tagged her in the photo. I would never have thought to do that. As an administrator, I don't want to overstep privacy lines. But it was a great way to engage our audience.

—Laura Egles, marketing specialist, Georgian Court University

Strategically Plan for Time Off

We should care about the accounts that we manage, and mine eventually felt like they were a part of me. But what happens when I don't want to deal with them, like over the holidays when I prefer to be with friends and family?

The solution is to look at the strategy and schedule content that will drive engagement on its own. Over the holidays, I cleared with the team and my boss that I would only check our accounts in the morning and then not touch them again for the whole day. One year, we ran a contest with photos we had collected the previous month and which we had scheduled in advance. That turned out to be our best holiday week in years in terms of reader comments.

—Josh Kohnert, marketing specialist, Western Michigan University

Interviews by Theresa Walker