Week 33 – Take back control

Situation

One common cause of my negativity is when I am let down by others, and plans that took time to create fall apart. Today I have had this happen 3 times in an hour so my mood is very down. My day doesn’t really allow for me being in a bad mood. I have to interview someone in a minute and they deserve the upbeat version of me, so I need to turn things around quickly.

Techniques

1. Control what I can control – I cannot make others more organised, but I can organise my own work, which gives me a sense of order and empowerment which is lost when we have to amend what we are doing to take account of what others haven’t done.
2. Reframing – I am angry about the wasted time but if I can find something positive that comes out of these last minute changes, I will see the situation more optimistically. By concentrating on the benefits of using the time to get through my backlog, I can see the last minute changes as a bonus, not a problem.

Results

Did it work? Yes! I made a list of all the things I was able to achieve because I didn’t have to attend the meetings that were cancelled at the last minute. I found someone else to give me the answers I needed (as the others were not available) which re-ignited a connection with an old colleague, which gave us both pleasure.

I even found 10 minutes to race around my office filing and tidying which has given me a more pleasant working environment and got me a little fitter!