DATE:
February 9, 2023
TO:
Suzy Casimiro, Organizational Behaviour Instructor
FROM:
Lam Phuong Nhu Le
RE:
A reflective report of situation(s) where you had to regulate your emotions in the workplace
Thank you for allowing me to share my own experience in my workplace as well as how I apply strategies to
overcome those situations. In response to your request, I have recalled situations I had to regulate my emotions
in my work as well as my college environment. Based on my experiences and study, I have reached the
following conclusions in regulating my own emotions during bad situations by using strategies learnt in class:
1. If you cannot change your negative emotions, change the situation as new situation will be able to
change your emotion.
2. If it is impossible to change the situation, you have to be smart in modifying the situation into which you
feel easier.
3. Temper your mental power to suppress negative feelings or amplify positive thinking.
4. Minimize the negative thinking by shifting your own attention.
5. Reevaluate your particular seems not to be a positive event by reframing the situation.
The rest of this memo explains the basis as well as application of five conclusions.
Change the Situation
It was exam season, when a lot of quizzes, tests and exams met me everyday and I had to put, revised a load of
knowledge. I felt really stressed and tired because I just slept from 3 to 4 hours per day during that time. I was
really tired but I did not let myself relax or have time for a mini break. Day by day, I could not stand under that
condition anymore and my study power seemed to decrease, I cried a lot because received the grade on some
mini tests were not as positive as I expected. Then, I let myself have a day to walk around the park, listened to
my favorite songs, ate good food in a small restaurant and came back home in the evening then went back to
study on the following day. It was so great. I did not feel stressed anymore, I studied in a enthusiastic way and
got very good grades for all of the exams. I chose this strategy as a solution to escape the stress because I can
not stand under that stressful condition anymore, so changing into another relaxing condition shifted my feeling
from negative to positive, empowered my mental strength to deal back with the old condition making me
stressed, but then no stress anymore. It was not easy for me to choose this strategy, because I was too scared to
let myself relax meanwhile everyone was still studying a lot. But when I thought back again, I thought that not
everyone has the same power to bear difficulty. We must be flexible to choose which methods are suitable for
ourselves.
Modify the Situation
Talk again about the exam season, it was the day I had a very important math exam which would define my life.
There were 50 questions, and I did the first 42 questions very smoothly. But when I came to the 43rd question, it
was really hard for me to figure out the solution, I kept wasting my time for that question and did not start to
look for the rest 7 questions. Although I wasted so much of my time on that question, I still could not figure it
out, then I moved to another question. Surprisingly, the other questions were quite easy for me, and I got my
energy back after finished the other questions. There were some minutes left and I started to figure out the 43rd
question again but in a very easy way. Because I only had one question left, that was the 43rd one. But in that
moment when I did not feel that question is a burden, I finally found out the solution, ended the exam with a
flying color. I got the highest math grade in my class because most of my friends were stuck at the 43rd question
and they did not move to the other ones like I did. At first, I would not choose this strategy because I thought
that the test using the easy to hard level order format, I thought that if I could not have solved the 43rd so how I
would have solved the 44th. But in the moment when I hesitated between move or stay, I chose to move and
thanks to my choice at that time.
Suppress or Amplify Emotions
I will talk about the time that I first got a bad grade on Sociology test. Of course, I was really sad when all of
my efforts did not pay off. The moment I received the grade not as what I expected, instead of nagging myself
and immersing in sadness, I suppressed those negative thinking by putting my mind at ease, talked to myself
that was the motive power to do better in another time-which called “Amplify emotions”. I know it is really
hard to not live with your true feelings, but sometimes we have to do so for the better.
Shift Attention
Talking back about the time I got bad grade on Sociology, besides using Suppress or Amplify Emotions, I also
used the Shift Attention method to up my mood. At that time, the only thing caught my attention was the bad
grade and if I was continuing this condition, it was not good. Then I thought that doing homework would be an
excellent idea. Not only did I finish all my homework, but I also minimized my sadness. I shifted my attention
from the bad grade to the homework. And I think this is the most useful way that we can use for variety
situations (workplace, college environment, love,…).
Reframe the Situation
I am working as a part time cashier in a local convenience store. After having a month for training, I worked as
an official cashier. Although I already had a month as a trainee, I still made some mistakes which made my boss
really disappointed at me, and I was really sad then. I saw myself as a failure and asked myself why I was so
bad at everything, a flow of negative feelings kept streaming inside my mind. I shared my thoughts to my best
friend and she consoled me that I was just a new one and I should not be so sad because I was still in a learning
progress to be experienced. At that time, I started reevaluating my situation and considered it as learning
moment. This was not the method that I shoes by myself, but to me, it is a very useful solution to regulate my
emotions, and I do love its flexibility in applying variety situations.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on what I experienced and the lesson in class, I think the 5 strategies to regulate our emotions are very
useful. We can use them in a variety of situations, as long as at the right time. When you know how to apply
these methods efficiently, this will allow you to better control your feelings, do your works effectively, deal
with difficulties smartly and not let your feelings control yourself.