Emotion management is one of the basic elements of psychological therapy, and many of the problems of those who go to a psychologist arise from failures in this aspect of life.
However, emotional management is not only a component of psychotherapy, but all people, to a greater or lesser extent, carry it out with greater or lesser success, even if they do not realize it.
Therefore, in this article we will review several key ideas that can help you know how to manage emotions correctly without wasting time and efforts.
No one can fully control their emotions, but that does not mean that we have no power when it comes to relating to our emotional side. There are several strategies that we can adopt when it comes to allowing emotions to influence us in the best possible way, and prevent them from being an obstacle to our psychological well-being. Here you will find several guidelines and recommendations that go in this direction.
Follow these tips to enhance your emotional management skills.
1. Structure your day with a schedule
Structuring your day is a very effective measure to focus and Don’t let the uncertainty about what to do and how to use the minutes you have left lead you to a state of stress or anxiety
It is recommended that you design a detailed schedule of all the days of the week and print it so you can hang it somewhere in your house that you see frequently.
2. Get enough sleep
Having slept well and the necessary hours is a factor that prevents anxiety and depressive symptoms
In addition, it will help you concentrate on your tasks, which is very important to prevent the accumulation of responsibilities from causing you emotional problems.
3. Assume that uncertainty will always be there
Managing emotions well means assuming that you can’t know everything. Tolerating the lack of information about what will happen is compatible with adopting a constructive mindset and focusing on those actions that seem best to you given a given situation and specific resources.
4. Learn to detect dysfunctional emotional management habits
Sometimes, we participate in our emotional imbalances without realizing it, by carrying out actions that we paradoxically carry out to try to feel better. For example, binge eating without being hungry, smoking when feeling stressed, etc.
Taking that into account, knowing how to manage emotions also includes detecting those behavioral patterns with a “rebound effect” and eliminating them. But to do this we have to get used to paying attention to the moments in which we feel bad and the actions that “we feel like doing” when we feel that way, given that context.
5. Incorporate relaxation exercises into your daily life
There are several exercises of several minutes that are very easy to learn, and that you can use in the moments when you notice that your level of anti-aging is higher than normal. For example, you can start practicing controlled diaphragmatic expiration techniques, or Jacobson’s progressive muscle relaxation.
Many times, emotional imbalances appear as a result of conflicts: grudges, poorly conducted discussions, etc. Therefore, it is important to learn to manage conflicts without turning them into absurd fights that do not contribute anything beyond the escalation of hostility on both sides.
No matter how much a clash of opposing interests arises at a given moment, that does not mean that a “war” should begin: Negotiation and the ability to reach consensus are essential.
7. Detect your trap thoughts
Trap thoughts are those that we feed unconsciously because They serve as an excuse not to leave our comfort zone even if it is at the cost of feeling bad.
For example, pessimistic beliefs about what we will never be able to achieve can be used as an alibi for not trying new things or even giving up on solving serious problems that are affecting us, which generates sadness and discouragement in us but keeps us away from the stress of getting to work or making difficult decisions. In other words, They are short-term “patches” that bring more problems in the medium and long term
Therefore, learning to detect these thoughts and the feelings linked to them is very important to correctly channel our emotions, so that they do not hinder our progress.
Are you thinking about starting a psychotherapy process?
If you are looking for professional psychological help, contact me.
I am a psychologist and neuropsychologist trained in caring for people of all ages, and I offer therapy both in person and online by video call.
