Do you have a short fuse? Does your anger affect your relationships at work? This article will give you some useful tips that will help you keep your emotions in check at work - they could end up saving your job. Specifics may vary from person to person; however, the following information includes helpful and important guidelines from which everyone can benefit.

Maybe you've witnessed it, or, perhaps you've even been involved in a scuffle at work. It might start as a few well-chosen angry words between office co-workers whose desks are located within close proximity of one another. Soon, the verbal battle escalates, sometimes even becoming physical.

The problem is that desk rage, much like road rage, is happening all too often as office workers become more and more stressed, constantly on edge and at the boiling-over point. Unfortunately, as the stress builds day in and day out, the hot buttons of anger can get even hotter until all heck breaks out.

Here are some strategies that will help you cope with the growing problem of desk rage and maybe even save you from losing your job or a mandatory stint at anger management class:

Tips for Preventing Desk Rage #1: Let your cooler head prevail. If you feel that a situation with a co-worker is becoming volatile, take a step back... a time out... and reassess what's going on. How did the anger grow so much? What caused it? How can you talk it over and work things out before the potential for fist-flying begins?

Tips for Preventing Desk Rage #2: Put yourself in their shoes. You have a gripe, but so does your co-worker. And although you may think you're the only one that's in the right, your co-worker may also have a valid point. It's very possible that once you take a moment to carefully consider where they're coming from, you may better understand what the differences between you are all about...and then you can work to settle them.

Tips for Preventing Desk Rage #3: Offer a helping hand. Many times, desk rage ensues when a person in the office is having a particularly bad day. Maybe something is bothering them in their personal life or maybe their workload is just too much for them to handle. Because of these things, they take their emotions out on a co-worker. If you sense that this is going to happen, try asking them if you can help. Such an approach might be all they need, and your gesture could diffuse a big problem later on.

Tips for Preventing Desk Rage #4: Change venues, at least temporarily. You see your co-worker every day; you occupy the same cubicles week in and week out. And unfortunately, a feud has developed right there, between your workspace and theirs. Attempt to make a truce by inviting your co-worker to lunch or for a get-together after work. Many times, a simple change in the atmosphere surrounding two people can be the difference that changes foes into friends.