Managing Emotions at Work

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When you are at home, you might react to stressful situations with shouting, or feeling pity for yourself or hiding in the corner. At work, however, these behaviors are unacceptable and can harm your productivity and professional reputation.

With department changes, budget cuts and staff layoffs, stresses in the workplace are very common. It can be very difficult to manage your emotions during stressful circumstances, but it is very important that you do so. If more layoffs are being forced, management may decide to keep those who work well under pressure and can handle their emotions.

How can you better choose your reactions and become better at handling your emotions in bad situations? I am going to share with you how you can productively manage some of the common negative emotions at work.

Common Negative Emotions in the Workplace

Cynthia Fisher conducted research to find the most common negative emotions at work, which clearly showed the following:

• Nervousness and Worry
• Aggravation and Anger
• Irritation and Frustration
• Dislike
• Unhappiness and Disappointment

Here are a few strategies that can be used to deal with these negative emotions.

Irritation and Frustration

If you feel like you are unable to move forward or as if you are trapped, you probably feel frustration.

Whatever the reason of your frustration is, you should deal with it quickly so your irritation doesn’t lead to additional negative emotions.

Some suggestions to deal with irritation and frustration are:

• Evaluate the situation- Look at what is bothering you and ask yourself why you are feeling frustrated. Be specific and write it down. Think of something positive about the current situation. For instance, if your meeting is starting late because your boss is late, then you can relax for a little, or you can take some extra time to prepare.
• Think positively- If you think about the positive aspects of the situation, it can often cause you to look at it differently, which in return can improve your mood.
• Think of a time you were frustrated before- After a while, the situation probably worked out. Your frustration probably didn’t solve much then, which means your feelings of frustration aren’t helping you now. 

Nervousness and Worry

When layoffs are increasing, anxiety and fear increase because of the worry about losing one's job. You cannot let this worry get out of control because this can impact your productivity and mental health.

Deal with your worrying using these steps:

• Don’t surround yourself with anxiety and worry- For instance, your co-worker is in the break room gossiping about the layoffs. Stay away from them! 
• Deep-breathing is a good exercise- Deep breathing allows your heart rate to slow down, relaxing you. 
• Focus on improving the situation- Let’s face it. Worrying will not help your situation. Instead, think of ways to help the business and show your company how valuable you really are.

Aggravation and Anger

The most destructive emotion in the workplace is anger and is one that most people have a difficult time handling. Learn to control your temper if you don’t want to lose your job.

Some suggestions to help control your anger are:

• Recognize early anger signs- When you can recognize your anger starting, you can more easily stop it. You choose your reactions and just because your first instinct is becoming angry doesn’t make it the correct response. 
• If you start to feel anger, stop whatever you are doing- Close your eyes and take deep breaths. This will interrupt your angry thought and help guide you to a more positive path.
• Imagine what you look like when you are angry- Picture yourself to give yourself some perspective. Would you like working with someone who is angry all the time? Doubtful.

Dislike

Regardless of how you feel about someone, if you are in the workplace, you must be professional.

When you dislike some people you work with, here are some ideas to help you:

• Respect is the Key- Set aside your ego and pride and treat the person with respect and courtesy like you would treat others. You shouldn’t act unprofessional because that person does.
• Be assertive- Firmly explain to the person that is unprofessional and rude that you will not tolerate being treated that way, then walk away. You set the example. 

Unhappiness and Disappointment

It can be very difficult to deal with unhappiness and disappointment. These emotions are very likely to impact your work productivity. Your energy will be lower, you might be afraid to take risks, and this may put you at risk of holding back from achievement.

Some proactive steps to take in order to cope with unhappiness and disappointment are:

• Look into your mindset- Realize that things don’t always go the way you want them too. Life would be too easy if they did. 
• Modify your goals- Just because you didn’t reach one of your goals doesn’t mean it is unreachable. Make small changes to the goal rather than doing away with it. For example, change the deadline to a later date.
• Write down your thoughts- What exactly is making you unhappy? 
• Smile- Forcing a smile can often times make you feel happier. 

Key Points

Sometimes, learning to cope with your feelings can be the most important part of overcoming negative emotions at the workplace. Negative emotions spread from person-to-person, and nobody wants to be around a negative person.

Know what kind of feelings you face the most and then figure out what causes the negative emotions. Try to interrupt those emotions as soon as they appear because the longer you wait, the more difficult it will be to stop the negative thinking.