Having patience at work doesn't always mean that you aren't also getting frustrated. It just means you're conscious of how you're channeling your energy at work.
Patience Makes Perfect
Having patience at work makes you look more professional overall as an employee. Think of all the times there was a miscommunication at work. Now think about how often we would lose our cool without exercising our patience. The better parts of ourselves come out when we take a minute to pause and think about our reactions to any unfavorable news.
Another benefit to showing patience is that it can better your understanding of all situations and the people you're interacting with. When you take the time to slow down, you give yourself the opportunity to investigate and collect more information before deciding how you feel about something.
Tips and Tricks
- Take a Few Deep Breaths: I do this trick probably more than I should! Mine sounds more like sighs but taking a deep breath really works. It helps to unlock the parts of you that you didn't even know were tense.
- Count Yourself Up: I think everyone knows about this trick, but a casual reminder never hurt! We all hope we don't get so mad that it comes out at work, but if it does, count up to as high as you need. Start by counting to 10 and if you're still not happy, keep going! You'll eventually be paying more attention to the numbers you're counting than the situation that made you mad.
- Take a Walk: If you're not in a face-to-face situation, step away for a minute. Take a walk, go to the bathroom, make up a reason! Whatever you have to do to keep your cool.
- Practice Pausing: If you think that your initial reaction might not be received well, press pause. Let it sit for an hour or two. Actually, a 72 rule of thumb is always a good idea as opposed to shooting off that less than favorable email. If I receive an email in the morning that makes me raise my eyebrows in frustration, I let it sit until after lunch. The amount of time that it would take me to recover from an explosive reaction, would far outlast the about of time it sits in my inbox. It's perfectly ok to pause. Your responses are a reflection of you! Take a deep breath, count yourself up, take a walk, or press pause until you're calm enough to think or type clearly. Who knows, just by waiting it out you might find the situation wasn't as big of a deal as you originally thought.
Extras!
Functioning at work requires a level of patience that can make your brain feel fuzzy and anxious. If you're feeling that you're overthinking more than usual, check out some tips and tricks on our blog post, "Ways to Stop Overthinking."