Working with people who are highly emotional can not only be difficult, it can be quite draining. They wear their emotions on their sleeve, and at times they try to get their coworkers aboard their emotional roller coaster to go for a wild ride.
Not only can this be a waste of employers time, but it can also be destructive to work relationships. Coworkers will begin to tread lightly around their overly emotional colleague, never knowing what might set them off.
Whether you are a highly sensitive person or work with one, here are a few tips that can help this behavior and make the work atmosphere better. It may also help them to keep their job.
If you start to feel upset because of something someone said to you, stop and ask for clarification before reacting. You may have totally misunderstood what the person was trying to say. Communication is tricky, you cannot read each other’s mind and do not know exactly what each other is thinking. Clarification is the key to understanding.
If someone did something with which you don’t agree and feel the need to let them know how you see it, take 10 seconds, stop, step away from the situation, breath in and out slowly and count to 10 to get a hold of your emotions. Perhaps then you can address the situation in a calm, peaceful, adult manner. If you cannot do this, then excuse yourself from the situation and ask the other person(s) if you can discuss this later when you can be calm.
Do some soul-searching so that you can figure out what makes you tick and what ticks you off. Once you know what ticks you off, you can begin to control your reaction to that situation.
Always remember that you have a choice in how you react, no one makes you overreact; it is your choice, and you own it. It’s time to Adult up and act like a professional, or you may find yourself browsing the want ads.
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