In past posts have I talked about how important the 24 hour rule is to people with ADD. I know that the 24 hour rule doesn’t always apply because sometimes we need to respond to urgent situations. If this is the case it is important to make sure that we are in fact responding and not just reacting and showing frustration.
I have been guilty of reacting to situations and showing my frustration. This is something that I have become more aware of and practice responding instead of just reacting. I know that customer service reps on the other side of the phone are probably quite relieved by this.
I have learned that showing my frustration doesn’t help me. In some cases it really hurts me and makes me look bad. In some cases where I know I may have a chance of showing my frustration, I write out a little script before hand and try very hard to stick to that script.
As the old saying goes…You catch more flies with honey…
2 replies to "Reacting out of Frustration"
Tara,
That is a good reminder for all of us. I just had an incident happen the other day and it was very hard to bite my tongue.
Sometimes, I’ll email the response I FEEL like saying, but only send it to myself, so that I can at least get it off my chest. Then hours (or sometimes days) later, I’ll have calmed down enough to say something more appropriately.
Terry
I have done this many times reacting at a paticular situation without thinking. Many times with customer service people in the insurance industry.
The 24hr rule does work well in these situations.
When I am angry or frustrated with a certain someone, instead of reacting i now go and write in my journal all the things I would like to say. It gets it off my chest and I am so much more releaved. It also clears my head so I can speak to the person more logically.