As the saying goes, patience is a virtue. This is especially the case for community support workers, as it’s one of the most crucial soft skills one can have in this field. While the world we live in is an extremely fast-paced one, and one with attention spans increasingly dwindling, having a strong sense of patience is more important than ever. It can be a difficult skill to work on, but keeping frustration, stress, and agitation at bay will serve you well in both your relations with others and in this type of work.

Although patience is a quality worth improving upon no matter which line of work you’ve chosen, it’s particularly key for this industry. Here are some tips for how to become a more patient community support worker.

If You’re Feeling Impatient, Acknowledge the Factors That Are Causing Your Impatience

The first and most obvious step to improving your patience is to acknowledge the existence of your lack of patience. It could be caused by events happening in your personal life, your daily inconveniences such as getting stuck in traffic, or specific situations in the moment at your job or with other people. 

Are your thoughts making you feel agitated? Do you have a lot of tasks on your plate in your daily life that you’re feeling in a rush to get done? Start by recognizing that you’re feeling this way, and think about what you can do to make things a little less stressful for yourself. Write your feelings down on paper, and write down which factors in your life are causing your lack of patience. Doing this, as well as taking deep breaths to calm yourself, can help you slow down a bit and understand what is flustering you, so you can work to minimize your feelings of impatience.

Get Any Impatient Feelings Out of Your System Privately, and in Productive Ways

Another key factor to bear in mind while completing your community support worker training is that if your impatience has reached a boiling point, it’s helpful to try and let it out while you’re alone and in private. There are many productive and positive ways for you to address your frustrations. For example, journaling, physical exercise, and mindfulness practices can all go a long way towards addressing negative feelings. Getting plenty of rest is also essential, as a lack of sleep can boost the presence of stress hormones, making you feel more on edge. 

Think About How Patience Benefits You After Community Support Worker Training

After attending community support worker college, there are many upsides to having an enhanced sense of patience while you work in this field. For example, being calm and patient rather than restless and hot-tempered will benefit your colleagues’ perceptions of you, as being a calm and patient presence at your job will help your reputation at work. Secondly, learning how to avoid falling into unhealthy emotional traps such as impatience will help improve your work and rapport with your clients. 

Having a calm, measured presence can make it easier for you to work well with an array of clients, regardless of the complexity of their situations. Once you’ve mastered how to practice excellent patience with others, you’ll be on your way to making great progress not just with your clients, but in your community support work career as a whole.

Do you want to get your community support worker diploma?

Contact Discovery Community College today to learn more!