1. Stifle your first impulse to react by saying or doing something negative. Instead, stop and either do the opposite of that, or simply choose to respond by doing nothing at all.
3. Speak calmly to yourself so you don’t over-react. (Figure out in advance what will likely work for you.) Depending on the person, it could be something like “Just chill” or “Leave it for now” or “This isn’t the right time to talk to talk about this.”
2. If you can remove yourself from the situation, then that is probably the best thing to do for now. That is, detach temporarily and choose to walk away. You can talk about what happened, or the issue, later on.
3. Speak calmly to yourself so you don’t over-react. (Figure out in advance what will likely work for you.) Depending on the person, it could be something like “Just chill” or “Leave it for now” or “This isn’t the right time to talk to talk about this.”
4. If you feel as if the person has really pressed your buttons, make yourself count to ten before you think about responding. At the same time, focus your attention on slowing down your breathing, and doing what you can to make your body relax.
5. To help with this, distract yourself by visualizing something that’s relaxing. For example, it could be a peaceful scene like the mountains or a lake. Alternatively, it could be something funny that has happened recently.
6. Speak directly to yourself, and make yourself act rationally. You’re responsible for you and how you act, and what you say. Don’t be controlled by your powerful emotions. You don’t want to end up with regrets later on.