6 Action Strategies to Help You Stop Overreacting
Photo Credit: Flikr – Evil Erin
We can often overreact to situations without even knowing it. How does this happen? Well, we allow our emotions to take over.
Once you gain control over your emotions you’ll be able to choose better reactions, which leads to better solutions.
It’s important to remember that no one is perfect. Everyone overreacts from time to time. It’s when your overreactions become the norm that you should seek a better way.
Consider the following action strategies to help you stop overreacting:
- The art of not reacting. In order to stop overreacting, you can try using the art of not reacting. This means that when you’re presented with a certain situation, your goal will be to not react at all. Instead, you’ll take the time to think about the situation and then formulate your action.
- Let out your emotions. Let yourself feel your emotions as they come to you and find positive ways to express them. When you let your emotions build up, they become stronger inside of you. It’s difficult to stop yourself from overreacting when you’re full of pent up emotion.
- Take a time out. If you tend to overreact with anger, it’s vital to allow yourself some cool down time. If you feel emotions building inside you, instead of bursting out, go somewhere where you know you can be alone. Cooling down will help you to react with a clear head.
- Write it down. Instead of reacting to a situation at all, go write it down. Writing it down is another way of giving yourself time to think over the situation. Later on, once you read what you wrote, you may be able to see whether your reaction was an overreaction or not.
- Practice relaxation techniques. When you adopt relaxation techniques, you’ll find that you’re automatically more in control of your emotions. Try deep breathing or attend a yoga or meditation class. Relaxation will stop your stress and you’ll be less likely to lash out with any negative emotion.
- Avoid judging. Make it a point to stop judging yourself and others. Judgments can give you strong opinions that may be unwarranted, which can lead you to overreactions. In the same vein, when you judge yourself for overreacting, you aren’t allowing yourself to make mistakes, which is a self-defeating attitude.
Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff
If you find that you’re overreacting to all of life’s situations, it’s time to start with the small things. Ask yourself why you’re reacting to small situations with such negative passion.
There could be an underlying issue you need to deal with first. Are you overly stressed? Is your mind focused on something else? Answer these questions and solve these problems first. Just take it one thing at a time.
Once you’ve discovered a method that works well for you, incorporate that change into your life permanently.
It’s important to expect that you will make mistakes along the way – but that’s okay! You may still overreact from time to time, but we are only human and it happens. Don’t let mistakes discourage you from jumping right back into the methods that work for you.
If you’re having trouble changing, remember to take small steps. It’s quite difficult to become a different person overnight. Try to bring an overall awareness to your life so you no longer feel the pull to overreact. Soon enough, you’ll regain control over your emotions!