If you’ve been in the working world long enough you’re bound to eventually, or already have, come across a terrible Boss. They’re either too demanding, they don’t communicate or they’re just a straight up bully. These are just a few ways that bosses can turn your work life into, what seems like, a bottomless pit of fire and brimstone. But, fear not, there are some ways to deal with these kinds of people. None of them include setting fire to their car, pouring chocolate pudding in their drawers or pepper spraying them the next time they demand that you work into the early hours of the morning; but they could make your workplace more tolerable.

Be Organised
Don’t give your boss the satisfaction of proving you wrong. When they ask for a project you’ve been working on, make sure you can hand it to them without batting an eye. It’ll prove to them, and to yourself, that you’ve got things under control. When they haven’t got anything to complain about, they won’t have any reason to target you with their frustration. Set up a system to manage your time and your tasks. The more organised you are, the more productive you’ll be.

Stand Your Ground
When they start firing their attacks at you, it’s a good idea to stay calm. If you start getting flustered and frustrated it’ll only give them more reason to vent their complaints. Handle your emotions and they’ll be the ones who will look like they haven’t got things under control. If you start to argue, you’ll only start making your situation worse. Stand your ground and calmly explain that you did not know about their new expectations. Remain confident. If you’ve kept yourself up to speed on all your tasks, they’ll be the ones in the wrong, not you.

Don’t Damage Your Work Ethic
The last thing you want to do is let your beastly boss damage your work ethic. You want to give them as few reasons as possible to criticise you. Working slower, taking longer lunch breaks or extra days off in spite of your boss isn’t going to improve your situation. It’s just going to put you further behind in your work and build a case for your boss to give you more of a headache.

Push through the hardship of having to deal with a Terrible Boss, and one day you’ll look back on that time as a challenge that you were able to overcome.