5 Things to Remember Before you Lose Your Temper

Breathe and count to ten

Close your mouth, count to ten, and breathe. In the blog post provided by The Daily Muse, Swati Mittal Jagetia, certified professional coach, says that it may not remove the stressor, but “it buys you time to step back, put things in perspective, and bite your tongue before you say something you might regret.

Try to see things from a fresh perspective

Speaking of putting things in perspective, a good way to release the anger is to try on someone else’s shoes– not literally. But try to see the situation from both sides rather than just yours. Kimberly Friedmutter, life management expert, suggests a 3-step exercise to make the process of changing your perspective easier:

Close your eyes and imagine the event. During this event, you are looking through your own eyes (associated). Recognize and feel the emotions that you were feeling. Imagine yourself floating into the other person, your trigger, and imagine the event occurring while looking through their eyes (disassociated). Recognize and feel the emotions that your trigger was feeling. Imagine yourself floating in the air above the two of you, putting yourself in the third person position, looking down on the event (disassociated) imagining the event happen. Feel the emotions that both you and your trigger is feeling.

Write it out (but don’t send it out)

When we’re angry we’ve been told to write it out, but the problem with doing this is technology. What do I mean? Well, writing a letter and hiding it or burning it used to be the way people released their anger; now we have email and text and online messaging and it is just too easy to press the wrong button and send your anger flying out through the office. This could result in a feud or worse, termination. You’ve seen characters in movies do this. Unfortunately, that’s how common it is. So may I present another alternative– instead of drafting a nasty email or text message you have no intention of sending, just click this link screamintothevoid.com, type your message into the provided space and watch your message enter the void never to reach anyone’s ears or inboxes.

And you can scream your angry thoughts into the void as many times as you want. You will feel better by getting it off your chest and no one will be hurt because of it, especially you.

Vent to someone you can trust

Everyone needs someone they can vent to without judgment, but the important thing here is to make sure you are venting outside of the dental office away from anyone who can hear you. I always take a walk with my good friend and co-worker to vent, and with the breeze on my face and the office behind me, I would immediately start feeling better.

Look for positive support

Talk to a good friend or loved one and accept a supportive shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen without judgment. At work, take a break and call a friend to confide in. And if you are still feeling steamed after the day is done, when you go home, hug someone you love as hard as you possibly can. Never underestimate the power of a good old-fashioned hug.

Find a mental escape

It’s important not to dwell on the anger, letting it fester until you explode all over the office. An argument that leaves you feeling enraged is like a pot left on the stove too long. You have to turn off the heat and remove the pot from the element. It almost sounds immature, but, run away. I don’t mean for you to go home, but rather to remove yourself from the element. Take a walk around the block and breathe in some fresh air. Let your mind and body cool to a more manageable temperature.

What do you when you can feel your temperature rising? Please feel free to let us know in the comments section.

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