Taking a deep breath and noticing your feelings of anger or overwhelm for example, when your kids start yet another argument right before bedtime can help you respond with more patience. In another study, adults who were feeling grateful were also better at patiently delaying gratification. We can try to shelter ourselves from frustration and adversity, but they come with the territory of being human.
Practicing patience in everyday situations—like with our punctuality-challenged coworker—will not only make life more pleasant in the present, but might also help pave the way for a more satisfying and successful future.
Shine is supported by members like you. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. See our affiliate disclosure for more info. Kira M. A s virtues go, patience is a quiet one. Yet patience is essential to daily life—and might be key to a happy one. Having patience means being able to wait calmly in the face of adversity Religions and philosophers have long praised the virtue of patience; now researchers are starting to do so as well.
Patient people enjoy better mental health This finding is probably easy to believe if you call to mind the stereotypical impatient person: face red, head steaming. Patient people are better friends and neighbors Indeed, research suggests that patient people tend to be more cooperative, more empathic, more equitable, and more forgiving. Patience helps us achieve our goals The road to achievement is a long one, and those without patience—who want to see results immediately—may not be willing to walk it.
No one says increasing your patience is easy. Learning to slow down and stay in the moment can have big rewards. Try these seven tips to work toward being a more patient person.
Learn more about vaccine availability. Advertising Policy. You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter. Or making the perfect poached egg? Practice, practice, practice. Everyday life will no doubt provide you with ample opportunities to practice your patience, but if you would prefer to have more focus and control when practicing, try a few of these things:.
All of these tasks require patience—-they force you to wait and push you to remove expectations, which are keys to becoming more patient.
Do you detest waiting in line at the grocery store because you're hungry and want to get home to eat? Or because you're running late for an event? Inspect the real reasons why why you're feeling impatient.
When you acknowledge those reasons, you may be better placed to take control over those feelings and stop stressing about them. Life is the longest thing any of us will do, but sometimes, mere minutes can feel like they stretch an eternity. When you are in these situations—like being put on hold or stuck in traffic—it can feel extremely uncomfortable. You are waiting with little to no control over the situation. However, try to remember you are simply uncomfortable.
These situations are not impossible, or life-threatening, so even though it may not be enjoyable, it is certainly bearable. Learning to recognize and accept discomfort may make it easier to cope with. Many situations that demand patience simply require you to wait, such as a long plane ride or a lengthy line at a restaurant. In these scenarios, there's nothing you can do to speed things up, but you can fill that time productively - so distract yourself. Listen to a podcast, type out a quick email you've been meaning to write, beat the next level on Candy Crush, or complete your daily minutes on DuoLingo to learn a new language.
There are always ways to fill time that don't include simply fuming over the situation and feeling angry or negative. If the lightbulb in your bathroom blows one morning, it's probably going to be little more than a minor inconvenience in your day. If it blows for the fourth time in a month, you'd have to be a saint not to lose your patience. Most of us have common triggers that set off feelings of impatience, and they often come from recurring events. This could be anything from noisy neighbors every night to kids not tidying away their shoes after school.
Recognizing these triggers can help you manage your impatient responses. You can either find ways to alleviate or avoid them perhaps with a call to your local council, or rewards for tidy children , or learn to accept that they will continue to occur and that you being impatient won't help in the slightest. In many cases, the reason for your impatience is another person, and in most cases, a little empathy can go a long way. For example, imagine you're stuck behind an elderly gentleman or woman in line at the grocery store, fuming as you watch them slowly count out their cash and coins.
This is your time to take a moment to remember to be empathetic rather than impatient. Even if they are making you run late, think of them as your own elderly relatives, your own loved ones. Reminding yourself that the "cause" of your impatience is only human, and that they're likely doing the best they can, may help you feel considerably more patient in the moment. Meditation and mindfulness are useful tools for dealing with practically any negative emotion, and they are especially effective for impatience.
Mindfulness is considered to be a mental skill in which proponents pay attention to the present moment, allowing them to feel aware of thoughts and feelings, and be grateful for the small things. These two practices together can offer a powerful antidote to the stress of impatience, and various studies have even documented their positive effects on lowering blood pressure, decreasing anxiety and stress, and improving blood circulation.
They say there's an app for everything these days, so naturally, there's software that can help you improve your patience, de-stress, and improve mindfulness. Even though some of these apps are not designed purely for patience building, they are all focused on mental health in some form, which can affect your propensity for impatience. Sometimes simply acknowledging a bad habit can help reduce it. Consider how people use "swear jars" to stop themselves from swearing. The content of this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment.
You should always contact your doctor or other qualified healthcare professional before starting, changing, or stopping any kind of health treatment.
Read More To be more patient, try taking a few deep breaths whenever you start to get impatient about something, which can help calm you down.
If specific things trigger your impatience, like standing in line or people not working as fast as you, try to come up with strategies to counteract them. For example, you could take a quick walk or distract yourself with something on your phone. Additionally, try to get in some physical activity every day, whether it's walking, running, or going for a bike ride, which can help relieve pent-up stress that might be making you more impatient.
For more suggestions from our co-author, like how to fend off impatience when you're waiting around for something, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers. Please log in with your username or email to continue. No account yet? Create an account. Edit this Article. We use cookies to make wikiHow great.
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Related Articles. Article Summary. Method 1. Pick up on the thoughts and physical feelings of being impatient. Some physical signs could include: [1] X Research source Tension in your muscles Restless, jiggling feet or legs Clenching your hands Short breaths An elevated heart rate Irritability or anger.
Other people not behaving the way you want them to. For instance, you might get impatient that someone in front of you at the grocery store is blocking the whole aisle or chatting with the clerk for too long. You may have an unrealistic expectation that you will quickly grasp all new concepts. Take a moment to ground yourself. Taking small, easy actions can break up the cycle of your impatience before it can progress, giving you a chance to regroup yourself.
Focus on your movements and the physical sensations of your actions, which will distract you from your impatience. For example, you might take a few moments to think about how your feet feel when you are standing on the floor, what it feels like to sit in a chair, or the sensation of an object in your hand.
You can also try a simple grounding exercise like looking for 3 things in your environment that are blue.
These simple actions help bring you back into the present moment. Take 5 deep breaths to slow your heart rate down. Close your eyes and inhale deeply into your belly. Hold it for a second, the let the air out slowly.
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