Go cool off before you answer. Hot words turn into long stories.

Anger narrows what you can see to the one thing in front of you, which is useful in an emergency and terrible in a conversation. Whatever you say in that state gets remembered and retold long after the feeling has passed. The cost is rarely paid in the moment; it is paid for months.

Build in a delay that does not require willpower: leave the room, go outside, say you will reply later. Twenty minutes is usually enough for the body to settle. Answer once you can hear what they actually said rather than what it felt like.