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In this lesson, we explore how you can better manage your emotions and impulses to respond to situations at work more effectively.
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Self-Management Techniques
In this lesson, you'll learn about self-management, a key aspect of emotional intelligence. The lesson covers strategies for managing impulses and emotions, the impact of emotional self-regulation on work performance, and techniques for stress management and resilience building. By the end of this lesson, you will understand how to better manage your emotions and impulses to improve your work performance and resilience.
Notes
Strategies for Managing Impulses and Emotions
- Take a Breather: When you feel overwhelmed or agitated, take a moment and step back. Going for a quick walk or even taking a few deep breaths can prevent you from reacting impulsively.
- Set Emotional Boundaries: Learn to say no or set limits in situations that you know will emotionally drain you. Protecting your emotional energy helps maintain your focus and effectiveness. This requires honesty with yourself and others.
- Delayed Responses: Instead of responding immediately in stressful situations, allow yourself time to formulate a response. This can help ensure your reactions are thoughtful and constructive. For example, write a response, take a breather, re-read, and edit it before sending.
The Impact of Emotional Self-Regulation on Work Performance
- Improve Decision-Making: Clear heads make better decisions. Managing your emotions leads to more rational and beneficial choices.
- Enhance Work Relationships: Staying calm and composed helps create a more harmonious work environment and can help others remain calm as well.
- Boost Productivity: Less time spent being overwhelmed by emotions means more time focused on achieving your goals.
Stress Management and Resilience Building
- Develop a Support Network: Having colleagues you can rely on can alleviate stress and provide necessary support during challenging times.
- Focus on Solutions, Not Problems: This mindset shift can dramatically reduce stress and foster a positive work atmosphere. Instead of dwelling on what went wrong or who is to blame, consider questions like “how do we fix this?” or “how can we improve this?”
- Maintain a Healthy Work-Life Balance: Ensure you have time to recharge. Work-life balance is crucial for long-term resilience and job satisfaction.
Reflection Questions
- Reflect on the last time you were in an emotionally charged situation at work. Could one of the strategies mentioned help you deal with it?
- Consider if you are calm and collected at work most of the time. If not, what situations disrupt your calmness, and how can you address them?
- Think about your support network. Who are the top 3 or 5 people you’d go to for advice during a stressful situation?
- 00:04 Welcome back.
- 00:06 In this lesson, let's focus on self management,
- 00:09 a key aspect of emotional intelligence.
- 00:12 Self management means controlling your impulses and regulating your emotions.
- 00:17 That allows you to respond to situations at work more effectively.
- 00:22 If you can master self management not only will you improve your work performance,
- 00:26 but you'll also become more resilient against stress.
- 00:30 So let's explore how you can better manage your emotions and impulses.
- 00:36 Self management starts with recognizing your emotional triggers and
- 00:39 learning to control your immediate reactions.
- 00:42 Here are some strategies that can help.
- 00:44 First, take a breather.
- 00:46 When you feel overwhelmed or agitated, take a moment and step back.
- 00:51 Going for a quick walk or
- 00:53 even taking a few deep breaths can prevent you from reacting impulsively.
- 00:59 Set emotional boundaries, learn to say no or
- 01:02 set limits in situations that you know will emotionally drain you.
- 01:07 Protecting your emotional energy helps maintain your focus and effectiveness.
- 01:13 This is something that can take time and practice, but you need to be honest with
- 01:18 others as well as with yourself, emotional boundaries are important.
- 01:23 And consider using delayed responses, instead of responding immediately in
- 01:28 stressful situations, allow yourself time to formulate a response.
- 01:32 This can help ensure your reactions are thoughtful and constructive.
- 01:37 I don't know about you, but
- 01:38 I found myself in emotionally charged situations at work a number of times.
- 01:43 And I'll start writing an email reply or a reply in chat,
- 01:47 trying to counter every argument or support my own opinion.
- 01:52 But almost always, I don't send it right away, I'll take that breather and
- 01:57 then I'll reread what I wrote and usually, I'll make edits because I find
- 02:02 more constructive ways to get my message across.
- 02:06 Or I'll share what I wrote with a colleague or a boss and ask,
- 02:09 am I being reasonable here?
- 02:11 Does this sound okay?
- 02:13 Would you change anything?
- 02:15 It's a great way to check yourself and
- 02:17 ensure that what you're sending back is not going to escalate a situation, and
- 02:22 hopefully move you towards a professional solution.
- 02:25 Managing your emotions effectively doesn't just help you handle stress,
- 02:29 it also enhances your performance.
- 02:31 By staying calm and composed, you can improve decision-making.
- 02:36 Clear heads, make better decisions.
- 02:39 If you can manage those emotions,
- 02:42 your choices will be more rational and beneficial.
- 02:46 Staying calm and composed also enhances work relationships.
- 02:50 And in fact, when people are calm and steady, it usually helps others
- 02:55 become calmer as well, creating a more harmonious work environment.
- 02:59 And it also boosts productivity, less time spent being overwhelmed
- 03:04 by emotions means more time focused on achieving your goals.
- 03:09 Building resilience is about more than just surviving,
- 03:13 it's about thriving even in tough times.
- 03:16 Here's how you can strengthen your resilience and
- 03:19 improve your self management.
- 03:22 First, develop a support network.
- 03:25 Having colleagues you can rely on can alleviate stress and
- 03:28 provide necessary support during challenging times.
- 03:31 Remember that example I shared where I said, should I send this message or
- 03:34 change anything?
- 03:36 Those people you ask for feedback are the people you trust the most.
- 03:41 Focus on solutions not problems, this mindset shift can
- 03:46 dramatically reduce stress and foster a positive work atmosphere.
- 03:52 Instead of dwelling on what went wrong or who's to blame,
- 03:56 consider questions like, how do we fix this?
- 03:59 Or, how can we improve this?
- 04:02 This can keep the team moving forward and
- 04:05 it encourages a culture of collaboration and resilience.
- 04:10 And maintain a healthy work-life balance, ensure you have time to recharge,
- 04:16 work-life balance is crucial for long-term resilience and job satisfaction.
- 04:22 So to sum up, mastering self management helps you control your impulses,
- 04:27 manage stress, and improve your overall work performance.
- 04:30 So, take a minute and think about what we covered.
- 04:34 Do you remember the last time you found yourself in an argument or
- 04:38 emotionally charged situation at work?
- 04:41 Could one of the strategies we mentioned here help you deal with
- 04:44 a situation like that?
- 04:46 Would you describe yourself as calm and collected at work most of the time?
- 04:51 If not, what situations disrupt this calmness and
- 04:55 does this lesson give you some ideas on how to deal with them?
- 05:00 Do you have a support network of your own?
- 05:02 Who were the top three or five people you'd go to for
- 05:05 advice during a stressful situation?
- 05:09 Give these questions some thought, and then in our next lesson,
- 05:13 we'll dig into developing social awareness.
- 05:16 See you then.
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