Do Not Allow Your Anger Control You- Here is How to Manage Your Anger at Work

If situations that usually don’t get to your nerves are beginning to do so, you are not alone.

Increased pressure, anxiety, and uncertainty keep us on the edge and reduce our ability to tolerate. Because it is mostly prohibited to show a burst of anger in the office, people feeling angered will have to subscribe to holding their anger not to be seen as breaking the rules of the organisation.

Unfortunately, holding your anger isn’t a sustainable way to manage your anger. The inability to express yourself may soon start to impact your work and relationship with colleagues.

This is a challenge that cuts across leaders, managers, and non-management staff. When you are faced with a situation that steers up anger in you, we recommend the below tactics to help you manage your anger at work.

1. Take some seconds to breathe

That moment when you feel side-lined, disrespected, overwhelmed, unfairly treated, and unrecognised, instinctively, you will want to vent. We advise you to take some seconds to catch your breath.

That moment where you experience the rush of blood isn’t the best time to act. You do not want to later regret your actions. Taking some seconds to breathe allows you to assess the situation and gives you the opportunity to have some grip on your emotions

2. Acknowledge how you feel

Suppressing how you feel means it is only a matter of time before you find somewhere else to vent. You may just completely go into a shell, and this may affect your productivity at work.

You might have been genuinely offended; it is okay to feel angry. Acknowledge how you feel. If you can, take a moment to understand the source of your anger. By doing so, sometimes it may turn out to be that the accumulation of other negative events is the reason why you are reacting upset with the current.

In the end, acknowledging how you feel will set the tone to help you fully understand the source of your anger.

3. Confide in someone

We usually would have that one person we are comfortable around. Speak with that person about what got you angry. They can be a source of advice on what next steps you should take. Do not forget they have a clear head and will probably assess the situation better than you will.

If you have been holding back too much, that person you trust can also be a room for you to vent, providing the opportunity to let some negative energy go.

4. Escape

Sometimes, you find yourself in a situation where you cannot catch your breath or have the opportunity to speak to someone you trust. You are left with the option to find an escape route.

At this point, you do something that can take you away from the anger boiling within. Take a break, see a movie, watch a football game, or grab a bar of chocolate (if that’s how you get away).

5. Channel Your Anger into Productivity

Anger, when channelled correctly, can be a powerful motivator. Instead of letting your anger control you, use it as fuel to drive your productivity. Focus your energy on tasks that require intense concentration or creativity. Transforming anger into focused work can lead to increased output and may even help you achieve breakthroughs in challenging projects. By directing your emotions towards accomplishing something positive, you can turn a potentially destructive force into a productive one. We hope you found this article helpful. Please leave a comment to let us know what you think.