How To Overcome Frustration At Work

How To Overcome Frustration At Work

Some things can be highly frustrating at work. When you get frustrated about those things it can affect your productivity at work. It might be difficult to not get frustrated about those things. However, you can work to make sure that they do not get the best of you. All you need to do is to know how to overcome frustration at work.

Here, we will be discussing how you can overcome frustration at work.

However, before we do that, let’s look at what frustration is.

What Is Frustration? – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

Frustration is defined as the state of being dissatisfied, agitated, discontent, or disappointed about something or someone.

It could also be defined as those things that can cause one to be dissatisfied, agitated, or disappointed.

As you can see, it is not only a feeling but also things or people that can evoke the feeling.

Frustration opens a person up to being unhappy with things or people around them.

It can also make one tired of having to deal with certain things or people around them.

As a result, it can make one unable to effectively do what they normally do.

Therefore, frustration is a big issue, especially at work.

So, you need to work to overcome it.

Some Common Frustration at Work – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

Not everybody experiences the same frustration at work.

Some people have a high tolerance for some things others have a low tolerance for.

However, everybody can likely get frustrated at work due to the following:

Difficult Employee/ Colleague

If you have a difficult employee or work with difficult people, they can frustrate you beyond your limits.

This is especially true if you don’t know how to deal with them.

These sorts of people will push all your buttons and wait to see how you will react.

Sometimes they don’t know when they are difficult so it can be tasking for them to tone down.

If you work closely with them, you will find it difficult to effectively finish your project.

Hence, if you have them at work, you need to learn how to deal with them to avoid getting frustrated.

Poor Resources/ Tools– How to Overcome Frustration at Work

There is nothing as annoying and frustrating as working with poor equipment or resources.

This is because it can make your work less productive no matter how much effort you put into it.

Poor resources and equipment can make you despise and lose interest in your job.

Hence, it is best to get good equipment and resources to avoid this.

Poor Communication

In the workplace, a good and free flow of communication is essential for smooth work and operation.

When there is poor communication in a workplace, the whole business will suffer from it.

This is because confusion will abound in that workplace.

 People will be getting frustrated not knowing what their duties are.

In that type of workplace, you will discover the employees doing things based on their discretion and not instruction.

This will not help that business to flourish.

Poor communication causes misunderstanding, confusion, and frustration.

Annoying Activities – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

Some certain activities in the workplace can seem annoying to people.

Having to engage in them can frustrate people.

For example, a bad meeting with no purpose and agenda is considered to be an annoying activity.

Hence, attending it can frustrate people in the workplace.

This is because people will feel that their time is being wasted instead of being wisely.

To avoid this, the management of a workplace or business should avoid setting activities that are irrelevant and not impactful.

Boredom

When a person has nothing to do at work, they can get bored.

Being bored in the workplace is not fun or productive.

Hence, it can cause frustration for some people.

Bad Boss – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

As a boss, you need to know that your actions can affect your employees.

You can do things that are unfair and inconsiderate and make your employees feel tired, unappreciated, and frustrated.

As a result, they can see you as a bad boss.

Nobody wants to work for a bad boss.

So, when a person has one they will get frustrated and tired.

Job Insecurity

The fear of losing one’s job is another common thing that can cause frustration at work.

Nobody wants to lose their job.

Hence, when someone knows that their job is not secured, it will cause them to worry.

When they are worried at all times about their job, they will ultimately feel frustrated at work.

Unappreciated or Rejected Ideas – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

When a person’s idea is not appreciated or rejected, it can make them feel frustrated.

This is especially true if they gave much thought to the idea and about sharing it, or if their ideas are often rejected or unappreciated.

As a result, such a person might likely feel that their ideas are not good enough even if they are.

They can even find themselves wondering if it is because the people they shared their idea with don’t like them as a person.

As a result, they will find themselves getting frustrated at work.

Failure To Meet Expectations

We all set expectations for ourselves at work.

As we expectations for ourselves, other people do too.

However, most of the expectations people have of us are bigger than what we are cable of.

Hence, when we are not able to meet them, they can get disappointed and tell us about it.

If this happens often, it can make us get frustrated with those expectations, the people that set them, and even ourselves.

In other words, our failure to meet expectations can cause us to become frustrated.

Heavy Workload – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

A heavy workload can be quite frustrating.

This is especially true if you are supposed to finish tasks at a given time and you don’t.

If this happens, stress will also come in.

When you are stressed you will struggle more.

The more you struggle, the less work you do, and the more frustrated and stressed you will become.

Why You Need To Overcome Frustration at Work – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

As you now know, frustration is the feeling of being disappointed, agitated, or discontented with someone or something.

It is also said to be those things or people who make you feel disappointed, agitated, or discontented.

Hence, we understand that frustration is both a feeling and a causal factor of that feeling.

Here are some reasons why you need to overcome frustration at work.

To Avoid Making Poor Decisions – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

When one is frustrated, they tend to lose their cool and this can affect the way they reason.

Also, they might get tired.

As a result, they will find it difficult to think about things thoroughly.

This can make them make poor decisions.

So, you need to overcome frustration at work to avoid making poor decisions.

Check here to discover 5 bad decision-making habits that can destroy your business.

To Avoid Ruining Work Relationships

Poor decisions are not the only things you need to avoid.

This is because frustration can make you feel agitated and this can make you lose your calm easily.

Your tolerance for certain things will reduce and you will be more irritable.

In other words, your mood will be darker and you will find it difficult to relate with people.

If your frustration gets intense it can make you ruin good relationships with people you work with.

So, overcoming frustration at work is important to help you avoid running your work relationships.

To Avoid Being Less Productive – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

Frustration at work can make you less productive.

How does this happen?

When you are frustrated, your judgment and reasoning can get impaired.

It can also make you tired of your work.

As a result, you will find yourself losing interest in your work.

Instead of focusing on your work, you will be busy thinking about that thing that has got you frustrated.

All of this will make you less productive at work.

So, overcoming frustration at work is essential to ensure you keep being productive.

Things to Avoid When Frustrated at Work – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

To effectively overcome frustration at work, you need to avoid certain things that can frustrate you more.

They include:

Conflict – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

You need to avoid getting into conflict at work when you are frustrated.

This is because it will make you more frustrated.

As a result, it will be much more difficult to overcome the frustration that you are feeling.

Negative Words

Negative words breed negative feelings.

Frustration is a negative feeling that can become worst when fed negativity.

So, you need to avoid listening to negative words.

Focusing on Your Weakness – How to Frustration at Work

Finally, you need to avoid focusing on your weakness.

This is especially true if what got you frustrated in the first place made you doubt your strengths and abilities.

If you focus on your weakness, you will forget your strengths.

As a result, your perspective will be clouded with negativity which will make it more difficult for you to overcome frustration.

Tips on How to Overcome Frustration at Work

Frustration at work makes you less productive, while running your work relationships.

So, you need to overcome it.

Below are some tips that can help you do this.

1. Pause and Calm Your Nerves

Whenever you start getting frustrated about anything at work, you should pause and avoid reacting to your frustration.

If you don’t do this, you might cause more issues for yourself and probably for others.

So, rather than react take time to calm your nerves

You can leave where you are to somewhere quiet if need be.

Your ability to notice and avoid negative emotions in time is a good way to avoid reacting wrongly and overcoming frustration at work.

2. Assess The Situation – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

If you have succeeded in calming your nerves, then you should assess the situation.

You need to think about what and why you are getting frustrated.

For example, you might be getting frustrated because of a difficult or problem employee.

Your reason for getting frustrated might be that they refused to do things the way you asked without a good reason.

When you understand the situation, then you will know your trigger.

As a result, this brings you a step closer to overcoming that frustration.

Knowing your trigger will help you handle and overcome that frustration better and also avoid it in the future.

3. Look at The Positive Side

Frustration at work can make you lose interest in it.

Most times, this happens because you are focusing on the frustration.

If you let this be, you will find yourself getting more frustrated every day at work, and unhappy with your job.

This way, you will not overcome that frustration.

So, to avoid this, you need to focus on the positive side of your work.

Look at those aspects of your work you enjoy so much.

When you focus on this, your perspective will change and you will become less frustrated and happier with your work.

4. Talk to An Objective Person About It – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

Another way to gain a fresher perspective of your work and overcome the frustration you feel is to talk to someone about it.

However, you have to ensure that the person is objective.

This way, they will give you an unbiased viewpoint and a perspective you haven’t considered.

While sharing your feelings and the situation with this person, ensure that you mostly focus on the data and facts and not your opinion or perception of the situation.

5. Visualize Your Life and Work in a Year Time

Sometimes you need to address a frustration to overcome it, and sometimes you just have to let it go.

A good way to know what you should do is to visualize your life and work in one year to come.

When you think long-termed and consider your professional goals, you will be able to decide on how to handle that frustration.

6. Consider Where and How You Can Change Things – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

You can change or do certain things differently both at work and in your personal life to limit and overcome frustration.

So, look within yourself and also around, and search for those things you can change to make frustration less at work.

For instance, you can consider switching up your routine in the morning to something that can get you in a good mood for the day.

Or you can consider engaging in a hobby that will challenge you in a good way at work.

You can even consider adding a feature at work that will ease work stress and frustration.

As a business owner, you have more advantages to make good changes in your workplace that will benefit you and your employees.

So, do not hesitate to think of ways to make things better for yourself at work.

7. Talk to Your Employees or Team

Your employees or team can be a cause of your frustration at work.

If this is the case, then you need to talk to them.

To do this, you have to prepare yourself and approach the situation in the best way possible.

Let them know how their behavior is affecting you and your business.

Tell them your expectations of them and where you want to see changes.

Also, allow them to voice out their thoughts.

A person can be frustrating without them knowing.

When you have listened to them and communicated to them about your expectation, ensure that you let them know that there will be penalties for not making effort or changing.

While speaking with them, ensure that you are assertive but not harsh.

 8. Set Boundaries – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

Some people have expectations for you that you know you are not capable of.

For example, your customers can expect you to give them a discount when you know you cannot do that.

So, rather than allow people’s expectations of you to cause frustration for you at your work, you have to set boundaries.

Let them know what you can and cannot do.

Furthermore, you have to set personal boundaries for yourself.

Don’t do things that will stress and frustrate you.

This can include not working late regularly and taking on several tasks or commitments at once.

When you work with set boundaries, it will help you to avoid and overcome frustration at work.

9. Remind Yourself That You Have Control

Sometimes we forget that we have control over our feelings, thoughts, and actions.

We might not be able to control external factors, but we can control our actions and reactions.

So, you shouldn’t let frustration make you generate negative outlooks in your life.

If you do, then you have allowed it to overcome you.

To avoid this happening and emerge as the winner, you need to be in control.

That is, you have to see things from an optimistic perspective.

Make changes and overcome that feeling of frustration by becoming more content and happier with your life and work regardless of what might be happening.

10. Work on Balancing Your Work/ Life  – How to Overcome Frustration at Work

Another thing that can help you overcome frustration at work is balancing your work-life.

This is because the frustration and stress related to personal matters can steep into your work and cause you to also be frustrated and stressed at work.

Also, when you have a good balance between your work and personal life, you will be happier and fit to face any frustration that might come at work.

So, you should work to balance your work-life.

Conclusion on How to Overcome Frustration at Work

Frustration at work can make you less productive and cause you to ruin your work relationships.

Therefore, you need to know how to overcome it.

You can do that by setting boundaries, making positive changes, talking to someone about it, or focusing on the positive side.