A Guide to Managing Your Emotions at Work

Emotional intelligence is an innate quality that helps you become aware of your emotions and to use the same to manage your behaviors and relationships. 

Some people are born with a higher EQ , it is inborn, for others it is a learned skill. It is good ability to foster and develop. especially in a stressful work environment. 

People are emotional beings, it is a response mechanism to the outside environment. But there are some emotions that one needs to keep in check while in a professional setting. Giving went to anger, frustrations and worries leave a bad impression.

There are some ways to curb such outbursts and be in control of the situations.

Respond Not React

First and foremost, one needs to respond and not react to a situation. That means not being impulsive and taking time to understand the issue at hand. If your first instinct is to lash out verbally to a frustrating situation, always take a step back mentally. Words spoken in anger and frustration cannot be taken back. 

Let your thinking brain take over from your emotional brain. Train it to hold back.

Do a Re-appraisal

Individuals differ in the way they react to stressful situations; some go under and given in and become depressed, others rise above the occasion and become resilient. A study found that women with high levels of cognitive reappraisal ability were better able to cope with high levels of stress. What is cognitive reappraisal strategy or ability?

It is the ability to give a positive spin to an event. How many times have we turned our disappointments into, “Does not matter, at least we were able to salvage this or that out of this situation” or we say “It is ok, we did not get the award, at least we got to meet all these talented people.”

It is a way to reframe an event in such a way that allows you to change your emotional response. For example, if your boss is being difficult, consider that he might be under a stressful situation or maybe try to view it from his viewpoint. Or that it is his way of reacting, why should I carry the stress.

It can be hard, but try to reframe challenges as problems to be solved or overcome.

Optimize your emotions or recalibrate them to give the best to the task at hand.

If you are in a positive frame of mind, you will be able to give your best. Especially in the creative field, if you work with a stress-free mind, things turn out that much better. 

Remember, working on too much of a high is also not good. Reign in the emotions when you need to stick to guidelines and rules. Sometimes emotional neutrality is the best solution to get the task at hand done.

Mundane way

A good way to bring down the high state of emotions in office is to tackle the mundane tasks first. Pick up things that require you to put minimum effort, are familiar, and give a sense of continuity. It can be as simple as cleaning up your email box, organizing your worksheet or sending some email you have been putting off for ages just because it was a boring chore.

Be aware of your triggers 

If you know a certain situation will cause you stress and an emotional reaction, try to avoid it if you can, Emotions have a strong power over our thinking, so set yourself up for a stress-free successful stint by avoiding the triggers.

Are you frustrated by the way the team dumps work on you? Somebody’s aggressiveness at work?  Dismissive attitude?

Then address the issues directly. Try talking about it. 

And a very important advice is walk it off. If you are overwhelmed, take a breath of fresh air, take five minutes and just walk away from the situation both physically and mentally.

There are breathing exercises and other mental techniques that help, but foremost should be your unwillingness to give in to your emotions in a professional setting.

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