When you react to workplace stress with emotion, it always leads to regret. Ultimately, it might cost you professional advancement. Learning ways to stay calm and collected in the workplace is a skill that will serve you throughout your career. Here are some unconventional ways to keep calm under pressure.

Do Not Walk Away

Try the opposite if you typically walk away to cool off at work—face stress head-on by training your brain to visualize calm when the stress occurs. When you walk away, you only pause the inevitable. You do not fix the problem. Visualizing calm can be anything pleasant you wish to imagine in a moment of stress. And when you force yourself to visualize calmness when stress takes place, you are diffusing a potential trigger and getting a handle on an issue before it escalates.

Use the Asteroid Test

Imagine if an asteroid hit Earth, and you knew the end was near. Will you spend your remaining time stressing over something you cannot control? Perhaps you would want to be happy with your loved ones? Understand what you cannot control and accept it. Then, focus on the positive steps you can control.

Fight Stress With Stress

Pause and think of another stressful situation bigger than your current work situation. Juxtapose the two and realize your initial stress is not a big deal. Ensure that the two stressors are related for this technique to work.

Love Enemies in Less Than Sixty Seconds

When you become irate at a co-worker, visualize family members, friends, or people close to you taking the person’s place. You can change an entire dynamic. How will you react when a stranger cuts in front of you in traffic, and you slam on the brakes? How about if it is your mother? You can feel a sense of peace when you can rid yourself of your ego and care about a stranger.

Accept Criticism With Grace

If you can accept criticism without malice, you can diffuse tension and strengthen your cool under pressure. It is redirecting someone else’s verbal attacks away from you. Are you going to be angry and upset? Of course, it’s normal. Instead of retaliating and getting into a heated argument, leave the situation before you fuel a more extensive fire. Do not waste time and energy on things that accomplish nothing.

Curse If You Must

Cursing is a bad habit, and even worse when in the workplace. When a situation sets you off, you might instinctively curse. Let this be your audible cue to inhale deeply. Try to visualize negative energy leaving your body as you exhale and create a feeling of calm and control.

It is difficult to stop cursing immediately. Allow yourself to curse, notice it, and then use breathing exercises to calm down. Your goal is to replace expletives with calming breaths. Of course, if you must curse, it is best to do it alone.

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