Some people tend to get too emotional when they find themselves in conflicts. Although one’s feelings could be a good factor when making decisions, getting too emotional can also cloud judgment. If you are one of these people, here are some tips you can follow to hold your emotions in check before a confrontation or before you make important decisions.

Observe how you behave during emotional moments. You should be able to pinpoint your “danger points.” You are not totally out of control of your emotions that you should know when you begin to feel rather than think during a situation. What emotions do you easily feel? Anger? Fear? What in the situation triggers these emotions? Once you know these answers, you’ll be able to deal with your emotions much easily.

Once you’ve learned more of your reactions, you can try stepping back from the situation. You can do this by physically removing yourself from the presence of stress. Whether you are in a professional or personal setting, ask politely if you be given a few minutes. You can take deep breaths to calm yourself before heading back in to continue discussions. You can also step back mentally. Simply take deep breaths from where you are standing and count up to ten in your head, until you feel your rational self stepping back in.

Focus on the issue. Try to stay calm as you can. You don’t need to resolve the issue right there and then. Take even a few minutes off when things start to get uncomfortable again and do some re-evaluation.