Emotional Management: Best Practices & All You Need

Emotional management skill involves the clear capacity to recognize, acknowledge, and effectively control feelings in oneself and occasionally in others. Emotional management is simply the ability to control one’s own emotions.

Being receptive to one’s thoughts and feelings is a good start, but it is not enough to develop emotional management skills.

It’s important to gain complete control over the thoughts and feelings that arise when your values are impacted by a person’s or an event’s actions. This shift in your ideas and feelings enables you to adjust your emotions constructively and avoid reactive outbursts.

So this post will help you achieve that in no distant time.

What Are Emotions and How Do They Affect Us?

emotions are simply feelings. But to begin to comprehend your feelings, you must first ask yourself two questions:

• What am I thinking?
• What evidence do I have?

However, every other individual has feelings. So while being conscious of your feelings, you should be aware of the feelings of others.

But one of the most popular questions is often; How do I know how others feel?

Emotional management skill is the ability to identify, accept, and effectively regulate feelings in oneself and occasionally in others.

Stated differently, emotional management refers to the capacity to control one’s own emotions.

According to studies, more than 80% of communication is non-verbal, meaning it is communicated through body language and facial expression. And because many of us don’t often talk about our feelings, especially when they are strong, we prefer to convey them more through body language.

The Brain and Emotions

Emotions are not something that can be easily controlled. The limbic system is the region of the brain that deals with emotions. This portion of the brain is thought to have evolved rather early in human history, making it quite primitive. This explains why an emotional response could be often simple but extremely powerful: you want to cry, flee, or scream.

It’s because these reactions are motivated by a desire to survive.

Emotions and memories are inextricably linked. If you’ve had a poor experience before, your emotional reaction to the same stimulus will create an intense response.

Furthermore, emotions and values are inextricably linked: an emotional response could indicate that one of your core principles has been questioned.

Understanding the connection between memories and values is crucial to controlling your emotional reaction. Your emotional responses may or may not be related to the current situation or logic, but you can overcome them by using logic and being aware of your feelings.

What is the Significance of Emotional Management?

Imagine yourself in one of these situations: you’ve been working hard for weeks on a project only to find out it’s been canceled, or you’ve been handed a slew of additional responsibilities when already overburdened, or the most usual scenario: your spouse shouts at you and publicly disrespects you.

The main question is how you handle such tense circumstances. Could retaliating by yelling at your partner, hiding in a corner and feeling sorry for oneself, or distracting oneself by playing games or speaking with friends assist in keeping a healthy relationship? Of course, the response is a resounding NO!

Such actions hurt your relationship as well as your efficiency and productivity in general. As a result, managing emotions is a crucial ability for a successful and healthy relationship. It helps you control your reactions by downplaying one feeling when it isn’t appropriate and highlighting another when you feel the work can’t be done without it.

How to Master and Develop Emotional Management Skills

The best methods to strengthen emotional management involve the following actionable steps; Stop, drop, and process.

1. Stop

This is the most difficult of the three steps since it requires a lot of willpower. This means you should halt in your tracks and analyze the next time your emotions are so strong that you feel hijacked by them and have a strong impulse to do something you may later regret. Begin by identifying the signs, as well as the thoughts and feelings that have exacerbated the action.

2. Drop

Now that you’ve completed the most challenging part, do something that will help you relax. You may never be able to think clearly and sensibly unless you reduce the intensity of your emotions.

3. Process:

At this point, you’ll be in a better position to consider everything and respond appropriately. First and foremost, identify the feelings you’re experiencing. For this purpose, it is preferable to keep tabs on your emotions.

Once you’ve identified precisely what you feel, think about its source and the reasons behind your feelings. Knowing the answers to these two questions will help you decide on the best course of action while keeping your values and ultimate goals in mind.

Read Also: CONFLICT RESOLUTION TECHNIQUES: 13+ BEST EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUES IN RELATIONSHIPS WITH EXAMPLES

Positive Actions to Assist You in Managing Your Emotions

You can improve your ability to control your emotions by taking more actions. Though many of these are somewhat generic, try them anyway.

1. Exercise:

This releases dopamine and other pleasure chemicals to the brain, making you feel better. Being physically fit also makes you healthier, which aids with emotional management.

2. Be Kind to Others, Because This Helps Stop You Worrying About Yourself

Be open to what is going on around you and accept it. Learn to enjoy what is happening around you and refrain from over-criticizing persons or situations. This is related to mindfulness.

3. Have a Good Conversation

Enjoy the company of others by spending time with them.

Furthermore, distract yourself from the situation. Watching a little TV, reading a book, or surfing the web will help distract you from feeling bad.

4. Don’t be Swayed by Negative Thoughts.

If you have negative ideas, confront them by seeking proof to refute them.

5. Spend Time in the Fresh Air

Being outside in the fresh air, especially in the presence of nature, is quite beneficial for soothing emotions. There’s evidence that we need to see horizons, so if you have the opportunity, go up a hill and take in the view.

6. Be Thankful

Remember to show gratitude to people for doing wonderful things for you.

7. Make the Most of Your Abilities

This entails doing things you enjoy, but it also means doing things that will benefit you in other ways.

Applying Reason to Emotion

As previously said, you can alter your feelings. The trick is to be aware of your emotional reaction and to comprehend what is causing it. That way, you’ll be able to apply logic to the scenario.

For example, you might ask yourself the following questions concerning various actions:

• What am I thinking about this situation?
• What am I going to do about it, in my opinion?
• Is this action in line with my core values?
• What impact would that have on myself and others?
• What else should I do that would be more appropriate?
• Is there anyone else I might talk to about this who would be able to assist me?

This allows you to use logic to analyze an emotional response before reacting.

For Example: Let’s say you’re terrified of the dark since you were once locked in a dark room as a child.

Because of your previous experience, you constantly have an emotional reaction to the dark. However, you can suppress that feeling of fear by telling yourself that you are an adult and that there is nothing to be afraid of. It’s as simple as walking over to the lamp and turning it on.

You may progressively retrain your limbic system by doing this, which will assist your brain in comprehending that there is no reason to be afraid.

Emotions and Decision-Making

When faced with decision-making, you can make use of logic, emotion, or the two combined.

Emotional decisions are often viewed as being made in the “spur of the moment,” yet emotions play a larger role in most decisions than we realize. If you’re married, you’ll know that deciding whether or not to marry takes a lot of consideration.

Both reasoning and emotion are used to make the greatest decisions.

If you employ one or the other, your choices may be unbalanced or ineffective in meeting your emotional demands. Instead, you weigh your emotional reaction with more rational factors.

This can be accomplished by:

• Pausing before deciding to give yourself time to consider your options.
• Consider how you’ll feel if you take each alternative option.
• Think about what could happen because of your decision, and how it might affect others. Would you be satisfied with those results?
• Take some time to consider your options before making a decision.
• Examine the decision in light of your ideals. Is it appropriate for them? Why, if not?
• Consider what a trusted friend or family member would say about your choice. Are you satisfied with this?
• Finally, think about what would happen if everyone did the same thing. It’s usually preferable not to do something if it’ll be a disaster.

Why Is Emotional Management Important?

Being able to control your emotions is one of the most important skills you can possess.

People who master self-control over their emotions and behavior are more likely to succeed in life, uphold wholesome relationships, and overcome challenges.

What Are 3 Ways to Manage Your Emotions?

• state your feelings.
• Reframe your thinking.
• Participate in a mood-enhancing activity.

Conclusion

Since many people can’t control their emotions, which leads to outbursts and extremely disappointing behavior, emotional management abilities are essentially underestimated. Everyone has an obligation to themselves to ensure that they acquire emotional intelligence abilities, especially those who do not.

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