We’re starting out super-pseud in this fortnight’s Philosopher-In-Residence blog by asking you: what emotion do you feel when you respond to the word “emotion”?

Are you a millennial who auto-reads that to mean an emoji and your brain reverts to your most-used emojis screen? Maybe like your author here, you have the heralded pleasure of belonging to the “geriatric millennial” category and you recall when emojis were properly known as emoticons (shoot me now). Perhaps you feel totes emosh about it all?

Or, stepping away from the introductory pun-fest and into the existential reflection that is the thrust of this blog series: are your emotions working with you or against you (and vice versa)?

Here in the world of Plankind we like to challenge readers’ habits, so here is a checklist for common emotions, common responses and practical ways to change the balance if, on reading this, you feel like you might not be getting the best out of your emotional processes…Happy Planning.

Emotion: Anger

Common Response: Beeping your horn when someone cuts you up in rush hour

Calmer Response: Change anger to a metaphorical pat on the shoulder when you correctly predict that someone is going to cut you up. Condition yourself to think “I knew that was going to happen” rather than swearing, stamping your hand on the horn, gesticulating. Feeling smug isn’t a holy grail of emotions, but it’s a lot better for your central nervous system than boiling your blood.

Emotion: Sadness

Common Response: Dwelling on what’s made/making you sad

Calmer Response: This is easier said than done – approach in tiny chunks to start the habit change. Make yourself do one thing that definitely isn’t, even if it only takes a few seconds or couple of minutes. This can be looking at a picture you like, writing down something you’ve associated with happiness previously, or doing a task where you know your brain will concentrate on something else.

Emotion: Pride

Common Response: Getting lost in the moment and thinking all moments can be like this

Calmer Response: Do enjoy the moment, but also remember that pride comes before a fall (true story!) Help preserve that feeling by logging in a diary, taking a photo, writing, drawing or recording something. Mix in mundane tasks like household chores and dull items on your personal or professional to do list within the pride period and this will both get the less emotionally-invested things done, and paradoxically, preserve and protect the pride-related scenario as you have formalised it whilst not getting carried away by it.

Next fortnight, I’ll be musing On Birthdays – it’ll be the 50^th edition of this blog, in the month of our website’s first birthday, so what better cause for celebration? 

Please get in touch with any particular aspects of this topic you’d like me to write about.

In the meantime,

Happy Planning

PS If you want some other free tips for your business life, check out the Working Well blog – out fortnightly on Wednesdays, courtesy of Make Me A Plan’s Productivity Expert, Penny Le Kelly. Browse the latest edition here: https://www.makemeaplan.com/news/preparing-for-the-big-event/