How do you manage negative emotions that impact your interpersonal skills?

Working all night in a high stress job, fighting fire, medical calls, or vehicle accidents, with little or no sleep, then going to my second job during the day made tired into exhaustion. It might sound difficult to believe but this experience of being “overly tired” makes sleep difficult when finally able to rest. This became a trigger for me, often jeopardizing personal and work relationships. One way to control this, for myself, was recognizing my emotional state, sometimes still heightened from an emergency scene, hours or days later. Telling someone I trusted that I was not “feeling like myself” and then allowing myself to rest.

A lot of time when experiencing negative emotions , it is good to self -reflect what we are thinking and why ? I often pause and reflect that whatever thought or perceived action is causing negative feelings, is that based on a fact or is that just an opinion or feeling or perception ? Many times when triggered we get into an "overdrive" zone and multiply what we feel went/is wrong . So to pause and reflect helps us to re-calibrate the situation , so we approach the solution more rationally.

Understand what they mean and learn from them. If you don't know how to do that you will never be able to control your emotions. Thus, your decision making will be affected.

Avoiding situations where you might get emotional is an excellent way to live half a life. Instead, learn to welcome feelings as messages about your situations, values, and needs. Self acceptance means acceptance of ALL of yourself.

People often think that others see them in a negative light but research showst that there is a so called “liking gap”. This means that we underestimate how much other people like us (eg. Savitsky, Epley & Gilovich, 2001). Being aware of this liking gap can really help us put things in perspective and reflect on our emotions in uncomfortable interpersonal situations.

It is natural for your emotions to show impact on your physical state and your overall health, practice to observe your body state when you feel different emotions and that self awareness will help you find ways to handle your emotions appropriately.

It is a good to make something for you when you are feeling tense: go on a vacation, take a sick leave and make exercises for your menthal health.

It is common for an individual to feel angry, frustrated or being anxious when speaking in public. My advise is to take a step back and re-analyze the situation to find the root cause and apply your 100% efforts in fixing the cause. This is healthy and can help you stay on top of your game.

By becoming aware of your triggers, you can develop strategies to cope with them and minimize their impact on your emotional well-being. Here are some steps you can take: 1. Self-reflection: Take time to reflect on situations or experiences that have caused strong emotional reactions in the past. Consider what specific elements or factors contributed to those reactions.

It’s also important to practice these coping skills when you are calm and not disregulated. When you do this, it’s easier to practice and use the skill in the moment.

The best "coping strategy" is to realise that there's no such thing as a negative emotion. Emotions are messengers. It's ok to be sad or disappointed - things hurt us sometimes. It's ok to be angry - probably something somewhere is pushing your boundaries. By understanding that emotions bring balance and relentless positivity is unhealthy and unnecessary, you can stop worrying about "coping" and live more fully.

1. Emotional awareness: Pay attention to your emotions and bodily sensations in different situations. Notice when you start to feel anxious, angry, or upset. This self-awareness can help you identify patterns and potential triggers.

It's important to realize that most of us already have great coping strategies at the ready, it's just that we often separate them from our professional experience because they're an intrinsic part of our personal lives. Take, for example, your favorite hobby. It might be music, exercise, sports, reading, playing video games, crocheting, etc... It's most likely something you already do in your day to day life that's capable of bringing your mind and body back to a relaxed state. Now it's just a matter of putting that self-awareness into practice and making sure you give yourself time to do the things you enjoy and take a break from whatever's triggering you. There's no shame in taking breaks or asking for a bit of a pause.

Be specific about behaviour, and be careful not to confuse a need (eg for respect) with an interpretation of behaviour. for example, "I feel hurt when you ignore me" - in this case "you ignore me" is an interpretation. A better approach would be "I feel hurt when you don't acknowledge me when I speak to you." - i.e. being specific about the *behaviour*, not making guesses or accusations about their intention.

Active listening is a skill and it can be taught. When you can master this skill, it completely changes the way you communicate. It gives you a huge advantage in any conversation as it allows you to truly connect with people and at the same time have greater control over the conversation. For business professionals and lawyers who use English as a second language and work in a dynamic high pressure environment, active listening is an important skill to master. Often non-native speakers worry about not understanding what has been said, replying incorrectly, or missing what has been said completely. This puts them at a huge disadvantage when it comes to communicating clearly. When they learn active listening, all of this, changes.

1. Journaling: Keep a journal to record your emotional experiences and any triggers you notice. Write down the situations, people, or events that seem to provoke strong emotional responses.

Active listening: Focus on truly understanding what others are saying rather than formulating your response. This promotes better communication and prevents misunderstandings. Open communication: Express your feelings and concerns openly and respectfully. This fosters honest dialogue and can prevent conflicts from escalating

Pay attention to positive feedback. We tend to ignore positive feedback and remember negative feedback a lot more. It is also important to acknowledge what we do right. Also, embrace failure. Negative criticism can offer a lot of useful learnings if we approach it with open mind.

1. Seek therapy or counseling: A mental health professional can provide guidance and support in identifying and managing triggers. They can help you develop coping strategies and provide a safe space to process your emotions. 1. Develop coping mechanisms: Once you’ve identified your triggers, work on developing coping mechanisms to manage your emotional reactions. This might include deep breathing exercises, mindfulness techniques, positive self-talk, or seeking social support from trusted friends or family members.

To cope with negative emotions, it is critical to understand them. Often, when we feel negative, we do not fully understand the situation or the impact it has on our life in the bigger picture; we try to downplay the impact of negative emotions at workplace on our personal life and vice versa. It becomes critical to share critical movement with close ones at workplace and family/friends both. Both have a very different view of your life and follow a different mechanism to evaluate your well-being. An amalgamation of both views brings out a churn which may suit well to your overall well-being.

It's likely that a triggering situation will become a recurring aspect of your everyday professional life. This is particularly true in client-facing roles with a big emphasis on negotiations or customer support. It's also likely that you'll have team members that work with you and witness your reaction to said triggering situations. Use them to your advantage, specially if you have a good relationship with them; make them aware that you're trying to work towards bettering the way you handle stressful situations and ask for their feedback after facing a hard interaction with an improved mindset and set of interpersonal skills. Sometimes a "How did I do?" is all that's needed to prompt the positive feedback you need to validate your efforts.

Relentless positivity is neither helpful nor healthy. The difficult and "unpleasant" in life also needs acknowledgement. There's no need to run away from "negative" emotions or thoughts. Aiming for balance - enjoying and savouring the positive, while acknowledging and bringing compassion to the "negative"will enable more full and satisfying living in the long run. Real boats rock.

I agree wholeheartedly and if it’s hard for you to think positive or you are having severely negative thoughts. The next step to positive thinking is neutral thinking! Take the negative statement, “I will never have good grades” to “I have three C’s and two F’s. I want to bring those grades up and it’s going to take a lot of work.” Try it out!

1. Create boundaries: If certain people or situations consistently trigger negative emotions, consider setting boundaries or limiting your exposure to them. It’s important to prioritize your emotional well-being and protect yourself from unnecessary stress.

Problem-solving: Instead of dwelling on negative emotions, focus on finding solutions to the issues causing them. This proactive approach can improve relationships. Time management: Balancing work, personal time, and relaxation can reduce stress, preventing negative emotions from affecting interactions. Seek support: Talk to friends, family, or professionals when needed. Sharing your feelings can provide relief and offer different perspectives. Healthy outlets: Engage in hobbies, exercise, or creative activities that help release negative energy and promote emotional well-being. Self-care: Prioritize self-care routines, including proper sleep, nutrition, and exercise. Physical well-being contributes to emotional stability.

Some examples of coping strategies i follow are: breathing deeply, taking a break may be a walk, listening to music, writing in a journal, or talking to someone you trust. Meditation and being mindful always helps..start with ,10 min a day and then increase as you master it One can also use positive affirmations, such as "I can handle this" or "This too shall pass", to boost your confidence and optimism. And always see situations as challenges to improve myself.

You're entitled to experiencing your emotions and having them validated. Regardless of how hard one might try to prepare, cope and communicate, sometimes we find ourselves in situations that simply just require us to take a step back, collect our thoughts, and seek assistance from someone a bit more experienced in dealing with stressful scenarios. There's absolutely no shame in that, and no one in your organization has any right to make you feel like you're underperforming or being "unprofessional" for simply being a human experiencing valid human emotions. Preparing yourself for tough situations will sometimes only be enough to know that you need to take a step back, and you should be proud of yourself for being able to pause and breathe.