Ten Ways to Keep Your Cool at Work

ESSENCE.COM Oct, 09, 2009

You’ve heard the old saying it’s not personal just business. In the work force, that continues to hold true. It’s always best to leave your emotions at home. The ability to manage and assess one’s emotions is called “emotional intelligence.” Many experts say success is best measured by one’s EQ rather than IQ. Taken from the popular new book “Emotional Intelligence 2.0” by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves, here are ten tangible ways to help you check yourself before you wreck yourself.

1. Breathe: Taking the time to breathe when you are under stress or trying to hit a deadline will calm you down.

2. Create an Emotion vs. Reason List: Writing down a list helps you distinguish what actions are being led by emotions rather than rational thinking.

3. 10,9, 8…: When you feel the anger boiling just stop and count to ten. This will keep you from losing your cool and losing your job.

4. Sleep On It: Time and rest always brings clarity.

5. Talk to a Skilled Self-Manager: A good way to learn self-management skills is to seek out someone who is a genius at it. Take the person out for coffee and pick their brain.

6. Make Time for Problem Solving: Take a walk or close your office door for ten minutes and think things through. Just a few minutes of problem solving will do you good.

7. Find a Neutral Party: When you are in a difficult situation, find someone not personally affected to sound off to rather than someone who might be in the same boat.

8. Do a Self Check: Taking a few minutes to monitor and understand your mood will help you determine the tone of your day as well pinpoint how your mood might be influencing your demeanor.

9. Accept Change: When you understand that change will definitely come – you won’t feel trapped by your situation.

10. Smile and Laugh More: There is something to that song “Smile.” Smiling and laughing lifts your spirits even when you are feeling a little down. So the next time you feel like singing, “Y’all going to make me lose my mind up in here …up in here – just 🙂