Controlling personal emotions is important in life and especially the workplace. This is something that students seldom think about. Generally, they are used to “wearing their heart on their sleeve.” However, behaving this way is unacceptable in the workplace. Having emotions or feelings about things is normal, but controlling these emotions is part of what allows people to work with each other. In this post, we discuss five techniques for controlling emotions that should be developed in your students so they are ready for the workplace.
Separate Feelings From Actions
It can be difficult to control emotions. Emotions are signals telling a person to do something or act in a certain way. Separating feelings from action is what controlling emotions is all about. Not doing anything when feeling strong emotions is the proper course of action. Thinking about why one feels the way they do should happen before any action is taken.
Stay Calm
Work can be very stressful at times. The pressure to do a good job, meet deadlines, and deal with challenging situations can result in emotional overload. The key to controlling emotions is to stay calm. Staying calm in stressful situations is easier said than done. Just like anything else, staying calm takes practice. Students should already be practicing this step in everyday situations at school and at home.
Wait to Respond
Strong emotions can make it difficult to think clearly. People say and do things that they later regret when they are emotionally charged. Responding while upset usually only makes the situation worse. Before reacting, people should stop and think about how to handle the situation. Sometimes stepping away from the situation is the right course of action. This requires students to be objective and refrain from acting impulsively.
Write Down Emotions
A healthy way to deal with emotions at work is to put them into writing. Writing down thoughts and feelings is a good way to deal with stress. The act of writing these things can actually help people process situations. It also helps them find new ways of thinking about things. In this way, conflicts are avoided and situations resolved constructively.
Stay Positive
People feel a lot of different emotions in the workplace. Anger, frustration, stress, worry, nervousness, and disappointment are just a few of the emotions people feel at work. These emotions have a negative effect on people’s mood. Staying positive is the key to guarding against this. Have your students practice thinking positive thoughts and saying positive things. If a positive attitude is established now, it will go a long way towards their future workplace success. Even when something causes them to feel negative emotions, their positive thoughts will help them to stay in control.
