How to Overcome Frustration: 3 Easy but Effective Techniques

When you are irritated then you are generally someplace in the future in your head. Wherever you wish you would be. Possibly you are reliving a misstep or failure from your past.

Break out of those headspaces and settle down by concentrating your thoughts and attention on what is here, right now at this time.

You may do so by for example:

Concentrate on your breathing.

Sit down, shut your eyes and simply concentrate on the air going and out of your nose for 1-2 minutes.

Take calm and somewhat deeper breaths than normal and breathe from your belly and not your chest.

Concentrate on what is around you at this moment.

The sun beaming in through your window. The youngsters playing out on the street with the vehicles and people moving past. The fragrances and sensation of the garments and warmth of the sun on your skin.

Do this for 1-2 minutes to bring your focus back to the present moment.

When you have returned your attention back to where it may be most beneficial focus it on what is still good in your life.

The quickest and easiest way to do so is to focus it on appreciating what you do have.

A favorite of mine at this phase is the vital things we may sometimes take for granted. Like for instance:

Spend a few minutes on this and you’ll find lots to be thankful for.

With your concentration in the present moment and your attitude a more thankful and happy one it is now time to get constructive about what irritates you.

You may achieve it by questioning yourself:

What is one tiny measure I can do right now to improve this situation?

It may be to explore what you can learn from what bothers you and to attempt another way towards your objective.

Perhaps it may be to try one more time and to keep trying (since not all things in life will come to you the first, second or third time you attempt) (because not all things in life will come to you the first, second or third time you try).

Perhaps it might be you just understanding that you may have taken on a little much recently or things have been rough and that you need to take this evening or a few days to just relax, take care of yourself and possibly simplify a bit.

So that you may recharge and then go back into pushing towards what you want out of your life in a more concentrated manner.

Additional strategies to decrease or avoid frustration:

Make note of your triggers and see what you can do about them.

What sparks your frustration?

Is it when your spouse doesn’t take out the garbage as you had agreed? Or perhaps you’re not making progress as quickly you want with your profession or hobby? Or when your phone’s interrupting your job all too often?

Whatever that could be, first ask yourself:

What can I do to avoid this trigger in the first place?

For example, put your phone on quiet mode or airplane mode and then get back to individuals at 1-3 planned periods throughout the workday.

If you can’t avoid it then ask yourself:

What can I do to decrease the annoyance generated by this trigger?

For instance, if you become annoyed with delays or waiting time while on your daily commute then ask your friends or research for solutions for how others tackle this frequent problem.

You may notice that one useful approach is an audio book or podcast to listen to distract your focus and to get something positive out of the situation while you’re waiting.

Remember: you’re human (and so is everyone else) (and so is everyone else).

Perfectionism towards oneself or others does most frequently lead to lots of frustration and disappointment. Therefore establish your expectations both for others and yourself at a human level rather than at perfection.

Understand that occasionally you may make errors, experience setbacks and not attain your objectives when you’d want to. And so will everyone around you too.

Work from that viewpoint both with yourself and others and when there is a setback then concentrate on what you can learn to grow and to do better the next time.

Speak things out (instead than keeping it bottled up) (instead of keeping it bottled up).

When you discuss a problem over with someone then it might allow you to start viewing it from a more level-headed viewpoint as you vent.

And your pal that’s listening may have one or couple of useful bits of advise from his or her own experience.

Maybe the two of you can start coming up with a strategy for how you might overcome or at least decrease this unpleasant circumstance.

Communicate as directly as you can.

People can’t read your thoughts and you can’t read theirs.

Therefore avoid attempting to imply, guess or be passive-aggressive and opt for basic, plain and calm communication as best you can.

That might be tough to do right at that time but it will most likely spare you a lot of unneeded aggravation, stress and misunderstandings in your relationships.

Here’s the next step…

Now, you may think to yourself:

“This is incredibly valuable information. So what’s the quickest method to put this into practice and put a stop to the annoyance straight immediately when it crops up?”.

Hey, I’ve got something unique for you…