7 tips to know how to manage emotions

Managing emotions is one of the basic elements of psychological therapy, and many of the problems of those who go to the 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 effort.

• Related article: "What is emotional intelligence?"

How to manage emotions in your day to day?

No one can fully control their emotions, but that does not mean that we do not have any power when it comes to relating to our emotional side. There are several strategies that we can adopt to allow 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 boost your emotional management skills.

1. Structure your day through a schedule

Structuring your day is a very effective measure to focus and not letting uncertainty about what to do and how to use the minutes ahead of you lead you to a state of stress or anxiety.

It is recommended that you design a detailed schedule for every day of the week and print it to be able to hang it somewhere in your house that you see frequently.

2. Sleep enough

Having slept well and the necessary hours is a factor that prevents anxiety and depressive symptoms.

In addition, it will help you focus 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 focus on those actions that seem best to you given a given situation and resources concrete.

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4. Learn to detect dysfunctional habits of emotional management

Sometimes we participate in our emotional maladjustments without realizing it., by carrying out actions that we paradoxically carry out to try to feel better. For example, bingeing without being hungry, smoking when feeling stressed, etc.

Bearing this in mind, knowing how to manage emotions also includes detecting these behavior patterns with a "rebound effect" and eliminating them. But for this you have to get used to paying attention to the moments in which we feel bad and to the actions that "we want to do" when we feel that way, given that context.

5. Incorporate relaxation exercises into your day to day

There are several exercises lasting several minutes that are very easy to learn., and that you can use in the moments when you notice that your anti-aging level is higher than normal. For example, you can start by practicing controlled diaphragmatic expiration techniques, or by Jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation.

6. Do not fall into the struggles of egos

Many times, emotional imbalances appear as a result of conflicts: grudges, poorly handled arguments, etc. For this reason, it is important to learn to manage conflicts without causing them to turn into absurd struggles and that do not contribute anything beyond the escalation of hostility on both sides.

As much as a clash of opposing interests arises at a given moment, that does not mean that a "war" should start.: 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 for not leaving our comfort zone, even 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. solve serious problems that are affecting us, which generates sadness and discouragement in us but keeps us away from the stress of getting down to work or making decisions difficult. In other words, they are short-term "patches" that bring more problems in the medium and long term.

Thus, learning to detect these thoughts and the feelings linked to them is very important to channel our emotions correctly, and so that they do not hinder our progress.

Are you thinking of starting a psychotherapy process?

If you are looking for professional psychological help, please contact me.

I am a psychologist and neuropsychologist trained in caring for people of all ages, and I offer therapy both face-to-face and online by video call.