We’ve all had mornings when we’re not on our ‘top form’ in the office. Whilst there may be a perfectly valid reason for our negative mood, such as on-going internal conflict or a negative experience lingering in our mind from the previous evening.
There are also times, when the negative mood we project is ungrounded, or at least it is consciously ungrounded.
With no obvious link between an event and our current emotional state, such as an argument with a spouse the previous night, we carry on unaware of the negativity we’re projecting.
Internally we feel our normal self, yet we are surprised when a colleague sometime later probes as to what was wrong with us on that day. I have been guilty of this, internally feeling fine and happy, oblivious to the impact my subconscious is having on my emotional state.
A solution to our ignorance, is to access our vast and complex sub conscious mind to uncover the factors that are influencing our current state. Learning the art of mindfulness is a good place to start on the path of self discovery, as it allows us to raise our awareness of the present moment, and consequently understand our emotional state.
Awareness of the self in the present moment is a skill and like any skill in life, practice is required to attain a certain level of competence.
To ensure that we are aware of the moods we’re projecting it’s important to have triggers to prompt us, after all it’s so easy to get caught up with our daily tasks and lose sight of our goal. A positive productive emotional state in the workplace.
The best trigger points, are usually the moment you approach the office door in the morning, the beginning of lunch, and one moment in the afternoon (cigarette, toilet or water break etc)
At each trigger point you should immerse yourself totally in the moment, free from the cluttered workings of your mind. No thoughts should enter or leave your mind, instead you should concentrate on your breathing and the sounds that fill your environment.
While this technique may sound a tad cheesy to some, it is extremely helpful in bringing you to the present moment and neutralising the workings of your conscious and subconscious mind.
The process works like a reset button, allowing us to return to neutral state if our current emotional state is negative.
Once we have returned to a neutral emotional state the next step is to elevate ourselves to a positive one, and there are many ways in which we can do this.
We could use a technique from NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) that involves repeating positive affirmations to ourselves such as:
” I am a happy positive person and today is a great day!” or ” I am in a great mood, bring on the day ahead!”
Ok, so it might sound silly, and you may run the risk of looking completely insane if one of your co-workers catches you talking to yourself, but it does actually work so give it a go!
At every trigger point, pick a few positive phrases that fire you up and repeat each of them out aloud 10 times with conviction. The theory behind this is that your brain can’t tell what’s real or not, so if you tell yourself enough times that you are in a good mood even though you’re not, you’ll eventually start to feel better.
Another solution to elevate your mood is to get your body moving. Small jumps on the spot, while shaking your arms in the air and smiling can instantly raise your mood. If you don’t believe me, get off your chair and give it a shot! I guarantee that not only will it improve your own mood but it’ll also improve the mood of those around you!
Once you have elevated your mood, you will see an increase in both your productivity and the quality of your work. You will find solutions to problems that previously seemed challenging, and you’ll also be able to get the best out of people as your positivity rubs off on them.
Just remember these 3 important points to help project yourself in a positive way.
1.Bring yourself back to the moment by using the 3 trigger points throughout the day.
2.When in the moment, concentrate on your breathing and environment sounds, and eliminate all thought. (3-5 minutes)
3.Once in a neutral mood elevate yourself through a combination of positive affirmations and body movements.