I find that at work the difficult moments aren't really accompanied by dysfunctional thoughts. I think I have a realistic view of the difficulties, and feel there may be issues I don't know about that have nothing to do with me, possibly business-related, someone else's personal ones, or both.
My truly dysfunctional thoughts more often are triggered by some trivial mistake, like making a wrong turn, or feeling inadequate about planning meals or getting my daughter to go to bed. Then I think things like "I'm the stupidest person that ever lived" or "I'm the worst mother in the world."
Now, I've read both FEELING GOOD and THE FEELING GOOD HANDBOOK by Dr. David Burns, and I've been using the self help techniques about challenging your negative thoughts for 7 years. I've been challenging these types of thoughts for a long time, and I understand deeply how truly absurd they are. This has done much to take away the power they once had over me, but it seems I can't break the habit of having them.
