Feeling Frustrated At Work >How Manage It?
We have all been haunted by feelings of frustration for one reason or another, and it is one of the natural feelings that everyone experiences in varying degrees, and it is usually generated by feeling stressed about a certain matter, or generated by disappointment or fear of failure in a particular thing.
The percentage of this feeling has increased among many, especially after the bad economic conditions that prevailed in most countries of the world recently since the emergence of the Corona virus until now, as many people suffered from the cessation of some businesses or the abandonment of some companies from their employees, and so on.
Hence the idea of this article came to present a set of practical and effective ideas and steps to get rid of this crippling feeling with a full definition of this feeling and its most important causes, how to manage this feeling and the most important advice to overcome it.
What a feeling of frustration?
The feeling of frustration usually results from tension about an unresolved problem with difficulty finding any solutions to it, or it may be generated as a result of disappointment about something expected, such as an employee waiting for a promotion from his company and being surprised that he did not get that expected promotion.
This feeling consists of a mixture of anger, sadness, resentment and annoyance, and some may have an overwhelming desire to scream, cry, or leave everything related to the subject of frustration and run away from it.
The feeling of anger is also common when a person is surprised that his plans are not going as intended, and he feels as if he was flying in the sky of his dreams and then suddenly fell to the ground, so it is definitely one of the worst feelings.
This feeling may be short-term for a simple reason or when it is easy to change this frustrating situation, or this feeling may become long-term if the matter is significant or related to the person’s life or practical goals, or when one feels short about himself, which generates feelings of guilt. It also exacerbates these negative feelings.
Feeling frustrated at work
Most people these days feel despair, annoyance, and frustration with their work, and this feeling is not limited to employees only, but it is also common among business owners of all levels.
This leads many employees to think about leaving their current jobs and looking for other jobs, or even trying to change their field of work completely. It may also drive many entrepreneurs to end their businesses and destroy their dream of their own business.
Despite the importance of always updating the employee’s practical experiences and the need for him to look forward to new opportunities, it is good to try to solve problems in the current job instead of looking for others.
Of course, it is never recommended for entrepreneurs to give up their dreams and their own projects, so it is very necessary to teach how to overcome this feeling and identify its most important causes in order to try to treat them in effective ways.
Reasons for feeling frustrated at work
Most employees get frustrated because of the work environment, the nature of the manager, or because of some situations, such as rejecting an idea they presented for discussion, or feeling the lack of financial and moral appreciation that they get for the amount of effort they put in.
These points can be explained in detail in an attempt to avoid them as follows:
- Lack of resources: Employees feel frustrated in their workplace when they find it difficult to obtain the resources necessary to complete the work, which affects the completion of the work in a negative way.
- Communication problems: Effective communication helps the workflow in a regular manner, and contributes to increasing ideas and proposals to achieve work goals, so the absence of this communication frustrates employees.
- Relationship problems between the work team: Relationship problems between employees and some of them, or between employees and the manager, are reflected in the workflow process.
If these relationships are not organized and defined in a way that defines the powers, capabilities, and tasks of each person, employees will become frustrated because of the impossibility of distributing tasks or clarifying action plans.
- Instability: Repeated exchanges of roles and places between employees, especially with the inconsistency between their tasks and potentials, leads to increased feelings of frustration and negatively affects the workflow.
- Cultural and personal background: Every employee differs from others in his environment and cultural background. If there is a big difference between one of the employees and the rest of his colleagues in a way that makes him feel unable to agree and communicate with them, then of course this will increase his permanent feeling of frustration at work.
- Problems of the organizational climate: A good organizational climate results in a healthy, friendly and motivating work environment, which reflects positively on the work. The exact opposite occurs when there are problems in the structure and organizational climate of the facility.
- Problems with the goal: When the goal differs between employees and some of them, or between employees and the establishment, this leads to disruption of the workflow and negatively affects the performance of the employees.
How to overcome frustration at work
The reasons for frustration at work vary between reasons related to colleagues and managers, reasons related to the nature of the tasks assigned to the employee at work, and other reasons.
These frustrations can be overcome by following some tips:
- Talk about problems: The first step to solving problems is to explain them to those responsible for solving them. If they do not know that the problem exists in the first place, how can they solve it?! Therefore, you must speak clearly with the manager and present the problem accurately.
- Proposing solutions: Most managers prefer an employee who is able to solve, so try to take proactive steps, and review a set of proposed solutions to solve problems that cause you frustration, or you can try to create a new system to facilitate workflow.
- Balance between work and personal life: If the employee only thinks about work and work problems, this will cause him to become more frustrated.
Therefore, you must achieve a balance between work life and personal life between family and friends to mitigate work problems and increase the ability to overcome them.
- Setting certain times for work: Some employees are sometimes forced to work late or skip rest times to continue working, and they believe that in this way they achieve greater achievement.
On the contrary, this will increase the employee’s feeling of stress and frustration, which reduces his productivity, so strict work schedules must be maintained that the employee does not skip.
- Determine a break area: Carving out an area in the office or institution and allocating it for the comfort of employees will greatly help them reduce problems and work stress, and employees are advised to try some yoga exercises during a break.
- Create a friendship between co-workers: Creating a social life outside work between colleagues can reduce tension between them, and it also helps them achieve effective communication, which improves their performance at work.
- Conducting regular review sessions: Setting a regular date for a session between managers and team members, discussing the latest work developments, and discussing problems, solutions, or opinions about work progress will greatly contribute to avoiding many problems that cause frustration among employees.
Signs of employee frustration
The successful manager knows that the psychological state of his employees has a great impact on their job performance and the progress of work in a good way, so he pays all attention to noticing any urgent psychological changes that warn his employees to enter a state of frustration or depression.
Despite the difficulty of diagnosing these cases, there are signs that the manager or the employee himself can notice about the general behavior within the organization.
If the employee has about five of the following behaviors, he is most likely frustrated, and the problem must be intervened and remedied as soon as possible.
These behaviors are as follows:
Rapid anger, increased impulsive emotional reactions, and difficulty controlling nerves.
Increased feelings of anxiety, stress and irritability.
Bad mood and sadness prevail.
Increased consumption of nicotine and caffeine.
Exhaustion, constant fatigue, and increased absenteeism from work.
Difficulty concentrating and not being able to make decisions.
Taking longer than usual to carry out the tasks assigned to the employee.
Discussions of hopelessness and worthlessness arise for the employee or the business.
The appearance of some physical symptoms such as persistent headaches or rapid weight loss.
Withdrawing from discussions at work or getting excited and aggressive during discussion.
Increase the percentage of missed appointments for the employee.
More talk about problems.
Increased rate of committing unusual errors.
Lack of employee productivity and lack of cooperation between him and his colleagues.
How does a manager help his employees overcome frustration at work?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) reports that employee depression and frustration cause about 200 million lost workdays annually in America.
It is, of course, a very large number that causes economic damage to the establishment in particular and to the country in general.
Hence the interest in the psychological health of employees and the increase in the responsibility of human resources staff to identify employee problems and practical frustrations and work to solve them.
The successful manager is also interested in working to help his employees to get rid of this situation, and then these tips can be followed:
- Providing a supportive environment in the workplace to encourage employees to talk about their problems and discuss them with colleagues and managers, and it also increases the employee’s sense of security and that he is not alone in his problem and frustration.
- Preserving the employee’s privacy when he talks about his problem or talks with the manager about what makes him angry or frustrated in the work environment, so he never talks about what the employee said and does not disclose any information he told him about, which increases the confidence and safety of the employees.
- Showing respect and appreciation to the employee after talking about his problem without being reckless or mocking his speech and without notifying him that he is a broken person who is unable to work, as the matter may get worse and frustrated if the employee feels a loss of his respect.
- Always ask employees about their problems, and if an employee talks about his depression and frustration, you should, as a responsible person, ask him about how to help and what you can provide to solve the problem.
- Invite the frustrated employee to meetings and discussions of the team, while showing sincere interest in his attendance and opinions, but if he apologizes for not attending, he should not be pressured excessively.
- Increasing work flexibility in terms of work schedules, the possibility of working from home, or carving out space in the facility for employees to rest. This will have a significant impact on improving the employees’ condition and increasing their productivity.
- Being always with the employees to notify them of the availability of communication with you and that you are there to solve their practical problems, which increases the effectiveness of communication between you, as well as increases the employee’s motivation and sense of safety.
- Pay attention to any talk about suicidal thoughts, and if any employee talks about the idea of suicide or his desire to end his life, he must immediately intervene to solve the problem with the help of a psychologist.
How to talk to a boss about feeling frustrated at work
Correct methods of effective communication help in reaching satisfactory positive solutions, and this becomes more important when the employee wants to express his problems and frustrations at work to his manager, as if he does not present the matter correctly, the problem can become more complicated.
Therefore, there are some steps and advice that the employee should follow in order to be able to present his problem in the best possible way, which increases the possibility of the manager understanding his problem and working to solve it in a satisfactory manner.
These steps begin by talking to the manager with a period where, at the beginning, when the employee feels frustrated at work, he must try to give himself the opportunity and the right to feel this situation so that he can get out of feelings of anger, excitement, or despair.
The employee also needs to talk to a friend or someone close to him to vent his feelings and try to expose him to different points of view than his point of view on the problem that caused him frustration.
It is preferable for the employee to try to think from his manager’s point of view, taking into account the external circumstances that may have caused this problem, such as company policy, the budget, or something else that may affect the manager’s decision.
The employee must also think with himself after he calms down, identify the real reason that caused him the annoyance clearly and accurately, and arrange what he would like to say to the manager.
After carrying out all these steps with himself, he asks his manager to set an appointment to talk to him, which will save the employee and the manager the burden of trying to create any empty minutes to talk.
And when the time comes to talk, the employee must pay attention to his body language, so he maintains his calmness and smile, while taking care not to fist hands, bend the shoulders, or play with the hair, for example, as these expressions represent a lack of feeling safe or comfortable.
The employee presents his point of view accurately, explains the real and direct reason for his feeling of discomfort and expresses his feelings openly, keeping in mind the brevity to preserve his time, his manager’s time, and work time.
He leaves the space for his manager to respond to what he asked or to clarify the real reasons for this frustrating behavior, or the manager may start putting forward some suggestions for a solution, and in this case the employee can also suggest some appropriate solutions for him.
After the end of the interview, the employee can send an e-mail to his manager documenting what took place in the interview, and the most important things that they agreed on, then he returns to continue his work without letting this interview affect his performance negatively.
Practical ways to get rid of frustration
The feeling of frustration suddenly attacks us all for any reason, whether at work or in normal daily life, and it may worsen and the negative feelings associated with it will get worse if we do not learn how to overcome those feelings in simple and quick practical ways.
Therefore, we present at specific points the most effective ways to get rid of this feeling as follows:
- Breathing exercises
When a person feels stressed or upset, the body automatically responds to this feeling by accelerating the pace of breathing to get enough oxygen.
A person can overcome this condition through regular breathing exercises, and it is preferable to take an inhale for four seconds, then hold it for seven seconds, then let out a long exhalation for eight seconds, and he will notice an improvement in his condition and a release of tension.
- Washing the face
Some may think that washing the face is a simple matter that will not affect the calming of the situation, but quite the contrary, this simple act can help relieve stress or anger.
Putting cold water on the face causes a state of recovery, and also contributes to cooling the body while slowing down the heart rate, which increases in a state of stress, and thus washing the face can restore you to a good mood when feeling frustrated and stressed at work.
- Muscle relaxation
Muscle tension increases when feeling frustrated, angry, or any strong negative emotion as a natural reaction of the body to this tension. Therefore, it is very effective to get rid of this condition by trying to relax the muscles to send relaxation signals to the brain, helping it to calm down and get rid of tension.
In the event that a person feels stressed and angry, he can lie on the floor or even on a comfortable seat, and begin to try to gradually relax the muscles and nerves until his body relaxes completely.
In this case, it helps him to try to breathe slowly and inhale the air openly, or breathing exercises can be used as well.
- Doing physical activity
Physical activities and exercise are known for their high ability to improve mood and psychological state and reduce tension, frustration and anxiety, as physical activities help increase the secretion of adrenaline, which in turn relieves stress.
Therefore, it is very useful and effective for a person to perform some simple or medium exercises when he feels angry and frustrated, in order to vent the charge of anger immediately.
But it is also preferable for people who experience frequent bouts of frustration and anger to exercise regularly, go to the gym regularly, or even take a walk on the way to or from work every day.
This regularity will greatly contribute to getting rid of those recurring seizures while improving the psychological state in general.
- Practice yoga and meditation exercises
Yoga exercises are highly effective in improving the psychological state and increasing self-awareness, which is reflected in increasing the person’s calmness and ability to overcome depression, stress and frustration.
In order to make the most of this method, you can search online for the best yoga postures to get rid of anxiety and frustration, and regular yoga exercises can treat depression, anxiety and stress, and treat some physical pains such as back pain.
One of the most important advantages of yoga exercises or meditation is that you do not need to take a lot of time to perform them, such as going to the gym, but it is enough to practice yoga for a few minutes in the morning or evening, or even during a break at work.
- Writing
Writing is one of the most important techniques for venting negative feelings and overcoming them. It is also very effective in organizing ideas and trying to come up with an appropriate solution to the problem. It also helps in seeing the problem from many different angles, as if you were another person.
It is possible to benefit from this technique by writing everything that goes into the person’s mind because of the problem, while writing the reasons for this feeling and describing the feeling accurately, and this will be reflected in calming the mind and improving the psychological state significantly.
- Allowing oneself to experience feelings
Some people think that they can overcome negative emotions by ignoring them, but this is not true at all, and it leads to the accumulation and exacerbation of these feelings.
Mental health specialists advise to live with the feelings and give the soul the right to feel those negative feelings, and give the soul a chance to calm down, and it is possible to talk with a close and supportive friend to express these exhausting feelings.
- Having a good time
If the feeling of frustration worsens, the person may need to get out of the atmosphere of the problem completely, and the previous momentary methods are not enough for him. In this case, he can go out for a walk away from work and home and spend some exciting times.
It is also possible to spend some time with animals, whether your pet, or even go to some animal care places, and spend time playing with them and caring for them, as these innocent creatures are known for their ability to improve the psychological state in a great way.
And if a person suffers from exhaustion or does not like going out and animals, a relaxing session on his favorite sofa with his favorite movie and favorite drink can help him overcome negative feelings in an effective and charming way.
- Doing old hobbies
Most of us have an old hobby that he liked to practice and got distracted from it due to the escalation of daily events and practical responsibilities, and therefore it may be very useful in the event of feeling frustrated for a person to spend some time practicing his old hobby.
Also, if a person has a talent such as drawing, writing poetry, or any other talent, he can occupy himself with creating something new related to his talent.
- Listen to music
It is said that music is food for the soul because of its magical effect on the mood and psychological state of a person. If you are feeling disturbed, listening to a piece of calm music can completely calm your mind, and dancing or expressive movement to music can change your mood for the better in a magical and effective way.
- How to manage emotions at work in general
Working life is filled with many problems, frustrations, and negative feelings as a result of work pressures, differences between employees and managers, and many other reasons.
In order for any person to succeed in his professional and practical career, he will not be indispensable for learning how to manage and control his feelings in his workplace and among his colleagues.
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Therefore, here are the most important tips for managing these feelings effectively at work:
- Practicing breathing techniques, yoga exercises, and all methods of relaxation when feeling angry or negative emotions.
- Knowing the company’s policy and culture, as each company differs in its environment and policy from others, and learning the company’s policy and dealing according to it can avoid many frustrations.
- Accepting the difference between the personalities of your colleagues and their environment, with full acceptance that you will not be able to change your colleagues and their character or choose your colleagues in every work.
- Maintaining boundaries between colleagues, as excessive openness to colleagues can lead to some problems or make you feel intrusive in your position or private life, so it is very necessary to clarify and adhere to boundaries for each colleague.
- The use of paid leave as it is compensation for your efforts at work, and it can recharge your mental and psychological energy to continue your work.
- Adherence to boundaries and rights, as some people try to exploit their colleagues or subordinates to obtain additional work from them or external interests far from work, so it is very necessary to learn to say “no” at the right time so that you do not feel violated.
- Maintaining lunch time and leaving work time is one of the most important rights of the employee, which will help him separate his mind from work problems, and take some time for himself so that he can continue in a healthy way.
- Seeking psychological help When you feel the exacerbation of negative feelings in a way that affects your work and personal life, getting help from a psychologist will be very important to improve the matter.
Here ends our article, which talked about the feeling of frustration at length, whether this feeling results from work or from normal daily life, as many of the ways to overcome this feeling are similar.
The article also dealt with the matter on the part of managers as well to help their employees to get rid of this situation in the interest of work, and we are pleased to receive your comments or inquiries regarding the subject through comments, and we hope that you like the article.
