4 ways to keep COVID-19 emotions from leading you to make bad decisions

You can’t begin to connect with others’ emotions until you come to terms with your own. And the COVID-19 pandemic has most likely churned up new emotions and exacerbated old feelings. Before you can solve these problems, you must face these so-called ambient emotions.

1. Rank your ambient emotions

The first step is to rank your ambient emotions.

The Wall St. Journal proposed rating such emotions on a scale of: 1 = never, to 7 = constantly. And its report on how to avoid bad financial decisions listed three such ambient emotions: fear, anger, and sadness.

2. Discuss your emotions with peers

Create a peer information sharing forum where you can share with your colleagues your primary ambient emotion. Ask whether any of your peers are feeling the same one. Listen to their descriptions of how the emotion is affecting how they think and act.

3. Recognize how your emotion will skew your thinking

Research suggests that different emotions are likely to skew your thinking in different ways. People who feel fear about COVID-19 may behave in a more risk-averse manner in seemingly unrelated domains. If sadness is your dominant emotion, you may be inclined to seek immediate gratification. Knowing how your primary ambient emotion affects the way you think will break the magic spell that the emotion casts on your ability to solve problems rationally.

4. Engage rationality to make the decision Once you have completed these three steps, your ambient emotions will still be there — but you will have freed the rational part of your mind to consider possible solutions, evaluate their costs and benefits, and pick the best options.