what to do when you get angry

When anger arises, manage what fuels it and channel it into useful action rather than letting it take over.

1. Improve self-care and make room for pleasure: Taking better care of yourself and having more pleasurable experiences can reduce how readily anger is triggered, and make it easier to manage when it does arise. 1
2. Create something valuable: Anger can consume time and distract from work you value; high anger can also bring volatility and confusion. Aim to keep it from spiraling into lost time or disrupted sleep. 2 3
3. Engage deliberately with social media: Online content can keep anger activated, so be selective about what you read and scroll past rather than repeatedly feeding outrage. 4
4. Channel anger toward goals without living in constant friction: Lower levels of anger can inform action, such as trying to make something right; you can also direct anger toward positive, pro-social work. But sustained high anger can be disruptive and make you less effective. 3 5