At some point in your career, you’re going to get frustrated at work. Actually, I’ll rephrase that: At many points in your career, you’re going to get frustrated at work. Whether it’s due to some major project change, or because the soda machine is consistently out of diet coke, it’s going to happen. The question then becomes: How do you deal with it?

As stated above, there’s a wide range of events that can set a person off. While it is more likely that a new project deadline will make you more upset than not being able to get that diet coke, sometimes all it takes to push your day over the edge is to have to drink diet pepsi. This is why that regardless of the situation, you need to act calm and in control of your emotions. The reason for this is simple: Will it change anything if you blow your top? The answer is most definitely no. In fact, it will probably just make things worse. Nobody wants to work with a hothead. As an example, if you kick the soda machine, will that make it magically produce diet coke? No, and you’ll probably just hurt your foot. If you yell at your boss, will your deadline suddenly go back to what it was? No, and you will have just lowered your bosses opinion of you. Losing control never helps, and often hurts, the situation.

What should you do then? Should you just sit back and take it, even if you’re really upset? This is highly dependent on the situation. In the case of something like the soda machine incident, you really can’t do anything about that. Go to the store across the street if you have one, or just suck it up. However, for something like a major project change, you can make an effort to change things. First, take a few moments to compose yourself. Don’t make a big deal about it, just in your head push aside the angry thoughts and bring your rational brain to the forefront. Then, start to outline the logical reasons for your argument, without raising your voice, etc. This is important, as if you just start yelling or protesting, it’s going to cause a much more antagonistic situation. The two key words here are calm and logical. With any luck, they’ll see you’re point of view and you can come up with a much more agreeable solution.

Finally, what happens if you just can’t change things, despite all the logic and reasoning you’ve brought to the table? When this happens, there’s not much you can do. I recommend going outside for a few minutes, just to cool down. Like I said above, don’t storm out, yelling and slamming doors behind you. Calmly take a few minute break just to clear your head. If you have a break room, getting a drink and watching tv for a few can also help to calm you down. Another option that I’ve used before is going to the gym. If you have a gym at work, bring some clothes with you to work and go on your lunch break, or right after work. It’s a great stress reliever and good for you to boot.

Overall, the key to managing frustration at work is just that word: Managing. This implies being in control and rational, which is what you want to strive for regardless of the situation.