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Do Your Emotions Runneth Over at Work?

Do Your Emotions Runneth Over at Work?By: J. Mason
Online Career Tips Staff

It’s typically a good rule of thumb to not let the little things at work get under your skin. Just like you’re advised to keep your personal life distanced from work, it’s expected the same should happen with conflict within the office. The reasoning behind this is that emotions can cloud your better judgment, and hamper your decision making skills. But what if some of the things that play out everyday in the office are really eating at you? Is it really healthy to let something like this fester?

At Psychology Today they feel that work IS personal and what can upset you at work can do damage. They call this “inner work”.  “Inner work life is “inner” because it is usually unobserved by others. In fact, workplace culture often frowns on people openly expressing their feelings at work.” They go onto explain that hiding these emotions or holding them in can be damaging for two reasons:

  • poor inner work life resulting from stress leads to increases in physical illness and absenteeism
  • inner work life influences performance

It goes without saying that employees with a positive inner work life are more creative, motivated and productive. So by neglecting to notice signs of someone struggling at work emotionally can hurt the company’s bottom line and performance.

[When Tested at Work, Reverse the Roles and Keep Your Cool]

For those suffering from this in the office space be honest about how your day really is. If you’re not honest with your manager you can’t expect them to help make the situation better. Talk to someone also, maybe it’s your spouse or a co-worker you can trust. They can help give you the courage to confront the situation before you start to decline. And a note to manager’s, make sure you’re listening. If someone is going through something at work they may not blurt it out all at once, but may tell you in snippets of their struggles with others, worries about the company, etc. Give opportunities when you can to speak with those that report to you, and help in creating a safe environment and hopefully this will help in improving the inner work lives for your employees.

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