How to deal with crying in the office

We've all done it... the walk of shame from the boss's office to your own, with tears in your eyes. But here's what you can try:

• If you can, make a beeline for the ladies' room.

• Run cold water on your wrists to cool yourself down.

• Remember that everyone cries sooner or later.

KATRINA: I’m Katrina Szish with howdini.com. Now you have to admit it. Almost all of us have had that terrible moment at work when something goes terribly wrong and you feel like you might burst into tears. But, you can’t do it. Here to explain how to handle that difficult situation is author Melissa Kirsch, she wrote The Girl's Guide To Absolutely Everything. Hi Melissa thanks for joining us.

MELISSA: Thanks for having me.

KATRINA: You say there’s a very important thing to remember about work. What is that?  

MELISSA: One must always remember that works is about facts. It’s not about feelings. They can so easily get conflated, but when you find yourself in a tense situation remember that. It’s about facts; it’s not about whether or not someone likes you. It’s not about whether or not you look good that day. It’s about the facts. What you want, what you need, getting the job done.

KATRINA: Sometimes it’s very hard to separate the work mode from the personal and the feeling mode, and sometimes you do get to the point where you’re just going to have to break down and cry. What do you recommend when you get to that point?

MELISSA: We’ve all been there. We’ve all done that walk of shame past our coworkers from the boss’s office to the bathroom. Mascara running down the face. You know it happens. We cry. We go to the bathroom, we clean ourselves up, we drink a glass of water, um, definitely try to cool down the body in order to stop the crying.

KATRINA: What if you don’t make it out of the room or to the bathroom and you just let loose, flood gates go, and you are caught in a situation where you are crying at work, potentially in front of your boss and coworkers?  

MELISSA: Bottom line: we’re all human. We all have feelings. We all get upset. It’s not the end of the world. But best avoid it if possible.

KATRINA: Okay Melissa Kirsch thanks so much for great advice.