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Self-regulation can be defined in various ways. In the most basic sense, it involves controlling one’s behavior, emotions, and thoughts in the pursuit of long-term goals. More specifically, emotional self-regulation refers to the ability to manage disruptive emotions and impulses.

In other words, to think before acting. It also reflects the ability to cheer yourself up after disappointments and to act in a way consistent with your deepest held values.

Development of Self-Regulation

Your ability to self-regulate as an adult has roots in your development during childhood. Learning how to self-regulate is an important skill that children learn both for emotional maturity and later social connections.

In an ideal situation, a toddler who throws tantrums grows into a child who learns how to tolerate uncomfortable feelings without throwing a fit and later into an adult who is able to control impulses to act based on uncomfortable feelings.

In essence, maturity reflects the ability to face emotional, social, and cognitive threats in the environment with patience and thoughtfulness. If this description reminds you of mindfulness, that’s no accident—mindfulness does indeed relate to the ability to self-regulate.

Why Self-Regulation is Important

Self-regulation involves taking a pause between a feeling and an action—taking the time to think things through, make a plan, wait patiently. Children often struggle with these behaviors, and adults may as well.

It’s easy to see how a lack of self-regulation will cause problems in life. A child who yells or hits other children out of frustration will not be popular among peers and may face reprimands at school.

An adult with poor self-regulation skills may lack self-confidence and self-esteem and have trouble handling stress and frustration. Often, this might be expressed in terms of anger or anxiety, and in more severe cases, may be diagnosed as a mental disorder.

Self-regulation is also important in that it allows you to act in accordance with your deeply held values or social conscience and to express yourself appropriately. If you value academic achievement, it will allow you to study instead of slack off before a test. If you value helping others, it will allow you to help a coworker with a project, even if you are on a tight deadline yourself.

In its most basic form, self-regulation allows us to bounce back from failure and stay calm under pressure. These two abilities will carry you through life, more than other skills.

Common Self-Regulation Problems

How do problems with self-regulation develop? It could start early; as an infant being neglected. A child who does not feel safe and secure, or who is unsure whether his or her needs will be met, may have trouble soothing and self-regulating.



Later, a child, teen, or adult may struggle with self-regulation, either because this ability was not developed during childhood, or because of a lack of strategies for managing difficult feelings. When left unchecked, over time this could lead to more serious issues such as mental health disorders and risky behaviors such as substance abuse.

Effective Strategies for Self-Regulation

If self-regulation is so important, why were most of us never taught strategies for using this skill? Most often, parents, teachers, and other adults expect that children will “grow out of” the tantrum phase. While this is true for the most part, all children and adults can benefit from learning concrete strategies for self-regulation.

Mindfulness

According to Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), mindfulness is “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally.”

By engaging in skills such as focused breathing and gratitude, mindfulness enables us to put some space between ourselves and our reactions, leading to better focus and feelings of calmness and relaxation.

In a 2019 review of 27 research studies, mindfulness was shown to improve attention, which in turn helped to regulate negative emotions and executive functioning (higher-order thinking).2

Cognitive Reappraisal

Cognitive reappraisal or cognitive reframing is another strategy that can be used to improve self-regulation abilities. This strategy involves changing your thought patterns. Specifically, cognitive reappraisal involves reinterpreting a situation in order to change your emotional response to it.

For example, imagine a friend did not return your calls or texts for several days. Rather than thinking that this reflected something about yourself, such as “my friend hates me,” you might instead think, “my friend must be really busy.” Research has shown that using cognitive reappraisal in everyday life is related to experiencing and more positive and less negative emotions.

In a 2016 study examining the link between self-regulation strategies (i.e., mindfulness, cognitive reappraisal, and emotion suppression) and emotional well-being, researchers found cognitive reappraisal to be associated with daily positive emotions, including feelings of enthusiasm, happiness, satisfaction, and excitement.3

Some other useful strategies for self-regulation include acceptance and problem-solving. In contrast, unhelpful strategies that people sometimes use include avoidance, distraction, suppression, and worrying.

Qualities of Self-Regulators

The benefits of self-regulation are numerous. In general, people who are adept at self-regulating tend to possess the following abilities:

• Acting in accordance with their values
• Calming themselves when upset
• Cheering themselves when feeling down
• Maintaining open communication
• Persisting through difficult times
• Putting forth their best effort
• Remaining flexible and adapting to situations
• Seeing the good in others
• Staying clear about their intentions
• Taking control of situations when necessary
• Viewing challenges as opportunities

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Putting Self-Regulation Into Practice

You are probably thinking that it sounds wonderful to be good at self-regulating, but you still don’t know how to improve your skills.

In children, parents can help develop self-regulation through routines (e.g., set certain mealtimes, have a set of behaviors for each activity). Routines help children learn what to expect, which makes it easier for them to feel comfortable. When children act in ways that don’t demonstrate self-regulation, ignore their requests, such as by making them wait if they interrupt a conversation.

As an adult, the first step to practice self-regulation is to recognize that everyone has a choice in how to react to situations. While you may feel like life has dealt you a bad hand, it’s not the hand you are dealt, but how you react to it that matters most. How exactly do you learn this skill of self-regulation?

Recognize that in every situation you have three options: approach, avoidance, and attack. While it may feel as though your choice of behavior is out of your control, it’s not. Your feelings may sway you more toward one path, but you are more than those feelings.

The second step is to become aware of your transient feelings. Do you feel like running away from a difficult situation? Do you feel like lashing out in anger at someone who has hurt you? Monitor your body to get clues about how you are feeling if it is not immediately obvious to you. For example, a rapidly increasing heart may be a sign that you are entering a state of rage or a panic attack.

Start to restore balance by focusing on your deeply held values, rather than those transient emotions. See beyond that discomfort at the moment to the larger picture. Then, act in a way that aligns with self-regulation.

How to foster creativity in the workplace

Employees are more inspired to be creative when they’re provided with a stimulating atmosphere and a diverse group of colleagues

Creative employees can help grow your business by coming up with better solutions to problems, expanding sales opportunities, and distinguishing your products and services from competitors. 

In order to foster a creative workplace environment, you have to first help spark creative thinking in your employees. Many people forget how to let their minds run wild and come up with innovative ideas. Give them a little help by encouraging the right mindset to take hold. Try these ways to allow a creative culture to blossom.

Six ways to encourage creativity at work 

There are so many ways to foster creative thinking in your employees. It’s important to test multiple strategies, since individuals respond differently when prompted to think outside the box. Below are several actionable ways to promote creativity in the workplace. These steps will encourage your employees to think creatively and facilitate a culture of innovation at work.

1. Set the stage for brainstorming

When employees have a wide-open whiteboard to work with, you never know what ideas might come up. When they have an empty slate, with plenty of markers and opportunities to brainstorm, your business can reap the rewards.

In place of whiteboards, consider putting down sheets of white butcher paper down on the break room tables and scatter with various writing utensils. This will give employees a place to scribble down an idea when unprompted—often the scenario in which great ideas incubate. They may even end up in an impromptu brainstorming session with someone from a different department. Loose, pressure-free brainstorming in a relaxed setting is one of the best ways for your business to generate new ideas.

2. Encourage individuality

Let your employees know that you value their thoughts. It sounds simple, but employees get used to feeling like part of the pack and can sometimes think it’s better to just keep up with their workload, blend in, and not become a squeaky wheel.

Employers should take extra steps to let employees know that individuality is appreciated. Make it clear that you see them as unique, interesting people, and not simply as your workers. Employees respond well to these gestures and will reward you with their insights and ideas.

3. Provide a stimulating atmosphere

When thinking about how to improve your office space to encourage creativity, consider the following elements:

• Sound
• Color
• Temperature
• Lighting

Sound

Your employees will benefit from environments with varying noise levels. Quiet environments are good for staying focused, but having ambient noise at a moderate level works best for encouraging creativity. Overhearing other people’s conversations is a major distraction that can hinder the creative process. Through private workspaces, collaborative table setups, and comfortable places to think, your physical office spaces can stimulate innovation.  

Color

The colors and vibes established in the office can also impact the energy of the space. Humans don’t respond well to typical office colors or vast areas of white and gray, beige, tan, and brown. These colors appear sterile and oppressive, and they’re ultimately uninspiring. White walls are hard for eyes to adjust to after looking at screens, and the constant contrast of stark white with gray cubicles, dark desks, and dark carpeting fosters more eye strain than creativity.

Instead, give employees some color. Pastel blue and green shades make for settings that are easier on the eyes, and they can create feelings of relaxation. Shades of green work well in spaces where employees need to focus and complete tasks. Green makes people feel relaxed and happy because it’s the color of nature, and humans are still wired to respond to it. Indoor plants can enrich a space, increasing productivity, feelings of happiness, and—yes—creativity. (Dead plants, however, aren’t helpful, so invest in a plant care service if you don’t have a knack for keeping plants healthy.)

In spaces where you want to stimulate thinking, such as in a conference room, use a bold warm color like red or orange. This color will help wake up your employees’ brains and could lead to some lively discussions. Use red or orange anywhere that you want to create an energized atmosphere.

Temperature

The temperature of a room can have an impact on your employees’ brainstorming abilities, too. Employees will be able to think better and come up with new ideas when the workplace temperature is comfortable. A temperature in the low 70s is ideal. Cozy employees come up with more creative ideas. It might cost a little more to keep the temperature in the right range, but the benefits could easily offset the expense.

Light

Light also plays a role in fostering creativity. Bright light is great for work that requires focus, while lower lighting lends itself better to creative thought processes. Natural light is ideal, if it’s available. Otherwise, choose lighting that best simulates the look of natural daylight.

4. Facilitate anonymous suggestions

Employees may sometimes feel too intimidated to make suggestions publicly. Even when you encourage employees to come forward with creativity, fear of embarrassment, general anxiety, or something else may keep some from freely speaking their mind.

Remove social barriers by providing employees with the ability to share their ideas anonymously. Put suggestion boxes around the workplace, distribute identity-protecting forms online, and be sure to show that even when provided anonymously, employee suggestions are being heard. 

5. Act on good ideas

Employees are more likely to offer their suggestions if they think their ideas will be implemented. Employees may stop providing their ideas entirely if they feel nothing is being done with them. Make a point of letting employees know when you’re implementing a new creative idea.

Once you’ve determined that the idea is a success, go ahead and let the staff know how this great new idea came to be. Don’t make a public announcement about whose idea it was until you have great results to show. This will foster creativity in the workplace by increasing your employees’ motivation to contribute.

6. Continue to hire diverse talent

Diversity contributes to an atmosphere of creative thinking. It’s good for business to have employees from different fields, different schools, and different backgrounds. Employees with too many similarities in education and experience can often come up with ideas that start to sound repetitive after a while. To increase diversity in your workplace, start looking at résumés for the differences that might benefit your business instead of choosing new staff members because they’re similar to employees you already have.

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