SCH 009 How to Have a Better Relationship With the Jerk at Work

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Ever worked with a real jerk and wondered how you would survive? Today’s episode has five hacks for working with a jerk that will help you overcome the overwhelm of outlandish behavior.

Have You Ever Worked With a Real Jerk?

Yeah, me, too! But before we get into that, you might wonder why the podcast came out late this morning. I can’t blame it on a jerk, just bears, bison, sheep, and road construction.

If you follow me on Instagram (@hacks4selfcare), you know about my road trip. I’m currently driving home from Alaska, which means driving through Canada. And Canada under COVID-19 restrictions looks a lot different than it did the last time I drove through.

I have to stay on the travel corridor and only get out of my vehicle for gas, washroom (bathroom) breaks, eating, or sleeping. And ONLY along the corridor. No detouring a half-mile off the highway for good coffee at Starbucks in Whitehorse, YT. No ‘leisure activities’ such as birding or hiking to break up the miles. Nope. And I have to make it through in four days. Driving solo.

So, I blame the bears, all ten of them, for arriving at my hotel too late last night (or was it this morning) to finish up the podcast editing. Once I make it home, I’ll share the best of the bear photos on Instagram. For now, I just have a video of an adorable bear cub eating flowers.

Back to the Jerk at Work

I’d rather face an angry bear in the wild than deal with someone’s boorish behavior day in and day out at work, though. Ok, I’ve never actually faced an angry bear in the wild. I have seen multiple bears while hiking and birding, but they weren’t angry.

Loud noise and shouts of, “Hey, bear! Get out of here!” did the trick at making them turn around and walk the other direction. Oh, and one time we had to throw rocks at a curious bear. I did have bear spray, too, which made me feel pretty confident.

But you can’t yell or pull out your pepper spray when dealing with people who annoy you, day in and day out at work. And if you work with someone who doesn’t share your political views during an election year, things can get even stickier.

So, what CAN you do? These five hacks will help!

Next Week…

Come back next week when I share five hacks for setting emotional health goals (and explain why that’s even a thing).

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