Learn How To Confidently Manage Your Feelings When You’re At Work
- Jun 20, 2022
- 3 min read
Written by: Pauline Morris, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Work and feelings in the same sentence!! I think not, a notion particularly relevant to me as a doctor and a coach.
Society tells us, that we should be professional, we shouldn’t bring our personal problems to work. Another way of saying we should all be automatons with on and off switches.
But feelings are an inevitable fact of life and for most of us, discarding our feelings at the office doors like a cape we can shrug off and then retrieve, is often not an option.
Doctors, nurses (and coaches, therapists, etc.) are human too.
When you’re not feeling your best, scared, worried, or anxious, you probably don’t want a consultation with someone that’s also feeling the same way, I get that. But that dynamic does happen and it can create problems.
This is a reality we face every day as healthcare providers. We too get divorced, lose loved ones, have financial worries, and become ill.
We also get angry, stressed, and frustrated in personal and professional capacities.
So, when we are going through these feelings how do we turn up for you the way you need us to?
The answer is, that it’s not easy. But there are healthy (emphasis on healthy) ways to manage tough feelings.
These are some of the strategies that I use myself and I teach my clients. These strategies will help you manage your feelings at home and at work, but you’re not limited to only these. Every situation is different, and how we react/respond is different, so take some time to think about yourself, where you are, and how to create your strategy accordingly.
You Can Start With These!
1. Acknowledge that you are allowed to have feelings.
2. Remember, you don’t have to respond or react to every thought that crosses your mind.
3. Take a deep breath and know that you are not responsible for everything.
4. Accept that living with uncertainty is living, let go of what you can’t control.
5. When you’re starting to reach your edge, remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. For me, that’s knowing the value that my care provides to my patients and my clients.
Now for those days when you can’t shrug that cape of personal feelings off at those office doors.
6. Get comfortable with asking for help, whatever that means for you and your situation.
7. This last one is gold. Know when you need to take a pause, for a few seconds, minutes, or even longer, days, weeks. Whatever. You. Need.
Good luck, I hope this was helpful and I’d love to hear more from you about your strategies for managing your feelings at work.
You can follow Pauline on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and can book a session through her website!
Pauline Morris, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Spanning several regions including the Caribbean, Middle East, and the United Kingdom, Dr. Pauline Morris brings a wealth of experience as a leader within and outside of medicine, as a Consultant Anaesthetist, and as a Career Coach. After becoming a single mum at 17 and choosing a life of caring for others, she realized the true difficulties doctors face in attaining happy healthy lives, whilst providing a gold standard of care to their patients. As the founder of Doctors Caring for Doctors, a career coaching and support service for physicians, her mission is to help all doctors discover how they can have a fulfilling life and a successful career without burning out.
In crafting her own successful career as a physician and entrepreneur, she is well placed to help doctors who crave inspired solutions to the competing demands of a medical career and home life.
One of her greatest gifts is her ability to authentically connect with her clients, allowing them the space to find the complete clarity that leads them to their own unique path, emotional freedom, personal joy, and professional achievement.
