Each of us cycles through multiple moods several times a day. Depending on how we feel, we may be gung-ho to take on a project or be immobilized by a pessimistic funk. Like stress, moods are often reactions to events and operate behind the scenes of consciousness, pumping us up, shutting us down, and leaving us at the mercy of whatever feeling has bubbled to the surface.
Moods have a big impact on what we get done during the day, how much we get done, the decisions we make, and the stress that we feel.
Researcher Marcial Losada found in a study that looked at the behavior of business people in meetings (using a two-way mirror for observation), that those with positive mood, who asked questions, didn’t go on the defensive, and used positive framing in their language, were more productive employees, had better sales, and got along with others better.
In this article, we will discuss 5 strategies for managing mood swings, especially bad moods at work:
1. Know your triggers
Emotional triggers immediately remind us of any past instances or experiences, even though they were good or bad. Just that very reminder immediately put on or off our moods. Knowing our trigger points helps when we can identify or relate to what makes us upset or puts our mood off.
This could be people, events, interactions, situations, places, etc. Knowing ourselves in advance can prepare us to remain calm and plan our reactions according to the situation. This way, we may be able to even anticipate the other party’s reaction. Always remember, that letting go is the key here. Let’s not stay imprisoned due to any situations that hamper our progress.
2. Be respectful
Respect is one of the most important traits @workplace because it creates a positive work culture for us and our teams to accomplish goals together. Let’s learn to treat people around us the same way we would like to be treated. In the business world or at the workplace, we just cannot avoid anyone and everyone for several reasons.
We must learn to co-exist and work together. If the other person is rude, there’s no need to reciprocate. We can stay gracious and just be firm and assertive without being aggressive. Often, rude people will mellow down if they don’t get a reaction from us and realise that they are the only ones shouting in the room and will eventually rectify their behaviour.
3. Compartmentalise
Compartmentalisation is a coping mechanism that allows us to separate conflicting thoughts, feelings, and experiences into separate mental compartments. This can be a useful strategy in situations where we need to focus on other aspects of our lives. When we commute to work, use that time to tell the mind to let go. Through this thought process, we can mentally ‘store/lock up” the issue in a box for the time being.
Likewise, never bring negative emotions home. It would be a good practice to let go of any anger, frustration, and unhappiness at the end of every workday. Harbouring negative emotions allows them to fester like mould, bringing you to a breaking point. So it’s best to empty the emotional “trash can” daily, to prevent overwhelm.
4. The 10-second Rule
This 10-second rule is a tried and tested rule around the world and is considered to be quite effective. Let’s give ourselves a chance to respond healthily, even in challenging situations. The 10-second rule is quite simple: It simply says that whenever the temperature in a conversation starts to go up, pause for 10 seconds before responding.
This is especially helpful if we are angry, frustrated or even irate. If one feels that the internal temperature is rising, try and count to 10 to recompose. If possible, drink water, and take a short break but let’s reassure the rest of the meeting participants that you will be shortly back to deal with the matter.
5. Decision-making
Research shows that decision-makers in a negative frame of mind tend to be more focused when facing a high-risk situation. Decision-makers who feel more upbeat tend to be less focused in their information search. Anger, on the other hand, can undermine good decisions. In this day of instant communication, it’s easy to just shoot off an email or text that you may regret later.
Let’s never let anger or unhappiness cloud our judgement. Hold off all forms of communication i.e. email, phone call, or in-person or virtual meetings while angry. We can write emails but save them as drafts and sleep on them for a day. Re-read it the next day or even let someone you trust take a look at it before you send it.
Wrap Up
To sum it up, let’s remind ourselves that no two men or women are born identical even in terms of behaviours. We should pay more attention to this aspect. In that case, to the emotional levers of mood, since they have such an impact on performance, motivation, interest, persistence, and satisfaction, among many others. These are some of the reasons that our work-life balance, staying positive, and time management employee training programs teach the power of optimism and the resilience that comes from it.
We’re all familiar with when the day gets off on the wrong foot. Everything seems harder, and takes forever, as intrusive frustration, sadness, or anxiety gets in the way of what we’re doing. The tone tends to spread throughout the day and this can only happen when we take a complete change or our moods.
