Emotional regulation seeks to reduce the intensity or duration of difficult emotions. Our interpretation and perception become more considered through observing our emotions in a non-judgmental way, and with greater openness. Self-awareness and consciousness of others allow us to respond properly. Practicing these skills in advance will equip you with healthier communication tools and make you more comfortable when you use them in the future.

Reappraising Emotion

Emotional understanding allows us to use perspective-taking, to be sensitive to emotional cues, and to empathize supportively.

One adaptive method to adjust our thinking is emotion reappraisal. This is a cognitive strategy that allows us to choose better emotional responses. For example, we might down-regulate hot-headed reactions. We can rethink and reframe to change the way we view the situation.

Our “gut” response is not always correct or helpful in difficult conversations. Doing a fact check for accuracy opens the mind to other possibilities. An internal pause or deep breath helps us to take a beat before replying reactively. Try mentally visualizing a stop sign to limit an anger spiral.

Emotions occur on a spectrum – neither all positive nor all negative. These emotions may change multiple times a day. Replies that include sarcasm, defensiveness, passive aggression, or lashing out can create a toxic environment or a culture of cynicism.

Dealing With Emotional Dysregulation

Feeling regularly overwhelmed or out of control in one’s behavior or thinking is emotional dysregulation.

In this state, hormones flood the brain, triggering neurotransmitters that affect mood, attitudes, actions, and overall brain function. It’s hard to control your outbursts when you’re hungry, tired or ill. Your sleep habits, unhealthy eating, lack of movement, and long-term stress can all disrupt normal day-to-day functioning. If they become the norm, they can destroy relationships and weaken confidence at work.

Additional factors that may cause dysregulation include depression, anxiety and other medical conditions. Certain medications and drugs are mood disruptors that influence cognitive capacity. Maladaptive coping mechanisms include abusing recreational drugs and alcohol, or self-harming. If these are present, it can be most helpful to seek therapy or counseling.

The brain-body connection is an early warning sign for wellbeing and wellness. You may feel your body temperature rising, your face turning red, your ears ringing, and your heart pounding. Your attention may narrow, or you may feel outrage. These physiological signs are feedback for the brain registering anger.

What other physiological indications do you notice when you’re feeling other emotions?

Becoming Accessible

Learning to express yourself in a more humane and empathetic way allows team members to feel safe coming to you. This may add to your cognitive load, but it becomes easier with practice. It makes you more accessible and improves two-way communication. This enables a stronger work climate.

When you’re aware of your reactions and responses, you create a positive impact on the engagement of your whole team. This is a sign of high emotional intelligence – setting the tone for employee dynamics by leading through example.

Exploring Sensory Modalities

Using sensory modalities, one or more interventions of our five senses, can help us to focus on the present. It can become a tool that distracts us from uncomfortable circumstances. Sensation is an effortless way to moderate regulation.

Here are six ways to engage your senses for emotional regulation:

1. Exposure to nature has been shown to shift moods by activating other parts of the brain. Taking a walk is a break that can remove you from a stressful situation or location. We engage multiple senses as we appreciate the visual beauty, feel the warmth of the sun, hear leaves rustling, taste a cool drink to hydrate, and enjoy the solitude
2. Listening to music has a powerful influence on our feelings and emotions. It can energize us when we need to boost our motivation or energy. Light instrumental jazz, classical music or nature sounds can upregulate negative emotions and help us to relax or feel more clear-headed
3. You can create a ritual of preparing and enjoying a coffee or tea in a peaceful manner. Take the opportunity to savor good food rather than skipping meals or staying at your desk
4. The sense of smell can make you feel nostalgic or trigger positive memories. For example, the aroma of brewed coffee, the sweet smell of a cinnamon bun, or the scent of fresh flowers can shift your focus in a healthy way
5. Journaling or discussing your emotions in a safe space can become a source of learning, and helps you to track your emotions over time
6. Tactile events, such as petting an animal, wearing soft fabrics, or using a weighted blanket, are known to reduce blood pressure.

What smells, sounds, tastes, sights, or touch help you to feel calmer and more refreshed?

Finding Emotional Balance

We can't eliminate all emotions in the workplace. We have the capacity to create coping strategies we can use flexibly and adaptively in dynamic environments. Emotional regulation helps us to release the uncontrolled hijacking of our emotions, moods and behaviors, and it links to better workplace outcomes.

Creating methods and modes to achieve more balance in our interactions can improve our mental resilience, help us to cope with problems, and increase positive emotions.

Self-awareness and awareness of others – two aspects of emotional intelligence – increase opportunities for meaningful connection at the personal and organizational level.

What’s Next?

Managing your emotions at work can be tough. Minor disagreements, difficult personalities, demanding bosses... they all add up.

The key skills a manager needs to develop are related to emotional intelligence. So why not take our assessment, How Emotionally Intelligent Are You? to give yourself a solid starting point?

From there, you can move on to Developing Self-Awareness, and finding out from an expert, Phil Willcox, how to be a self-aware manager.

Tip of the Week

In Praise of Praise

By Simon Bell, Mindtools Content Writer and Editor

As a manager, one of the most powerful tools you have to motivate and engage your team is praise – but it only works when it’s sincere and specific.

We’ve all been in meetings where a manager completely overlooks the key contribution of a team member. Another manager lavishly bigs someone up for, well, doing their job. In either case, the whole room cringes. So, choose wisely when giving praise – and get the tone and emphasis right.

Avoid generic phrases like “great job” and instead highlight exactly what impressed you. For example: “The report you delivered this morning was excellent – the added detail really helped answer key questions.”

This kind of targeted feedback shows genuine appreciation and helps team members to understand the behaviors you value. When praise is heartfelt and clearly tied to a specific action or outcome, it boosts motivation, strengthens performance, and builds trust. Don’t underestimate the power of a few well-chosen words!

Pain Points Podcast

When you ask someone at work how they are, do you really want to know the answer?

And if someone's behavior starts to change, or their performance goes downhill, do you notice – and know how to talk to them about what's going on?

On Pain Points this week, mental health consultant Tom Oxley explains how to open up useful, safe conversations, to head off problems early, and help everyone feel supported to thrive.

Subscribe Today

Video of the Week

Strategic Thinking for Leaders With John Anderson

Good strategy is the lifeblood of an organization. In this expert video, coach and consultant John Anderson offers his insights into strategic thinking for leaders.

Watch Now

News Roundup

This Week's Global Workplace Insights

Home Routines Drive Workplace Innovation, Study Finds

A new study published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology reveals that employees who proactively reorganize family routines – such as childcare schedules or domestic responsibilities – tend to be more adaptable and innovative at work.

Tracking 147 dual-income couples with children over six weeks, researchers found that deliberate home-based changes, like shared calendars or structured planning sessions, build confidence that carries over into professional life.

The concept, dubbed "strategic renewal," reflects how small, future-focused shifts at home can enhance resilience, creativity and problem-solving skills at work. The study underscores the value of "family creativity" – openness and collaboration in managing domestic life – as a driver of workplace performance.

As hybrid work blurs home and office boundaries, the authors urge organizations to invest in leadership development that includes work–family dynamics. Flexible work policies, coaching and wellness support can further amplify these benefits, fostering a more engaged and agile workforce.

Online Gig Platforms Still Failing Basic Labour Standards, Fairwork Finds

A new report from Fairwork, supported by the University of Oxford and WZB Berlin, reveals that most major online gig platforms – also known as cloudwork platforms – are failing to meet basic labor standards. Assessing 16 leading platforms, including Amazon Mechanical Turk, Fiverr, and Upwork, the 2025 Fairwork Cloudwork Ratings found that only four ensure workers consistently earn minimum wage after costs.

Based on surveys of over 750 workers across 100 countries, the report highlights widespread issues such as non-payment (31 percent), late payment (38 percent), vague or unfair contracts, lack of health and safety protections, and minimal worker representation. Despite being central to the booming AI economy, these task-based roles often leave workers unprotected and underpaid.

While eight platforms have made improvements since 2023, Fairwork warns that without stronger global regulation and enforcement, millions will remain in precarious employment. The online gig economy is valued at $647 billion in 2025.

See you next week for more member-exclusive content and insight from the Mindtools team!