Hello world! This week’s midweek motivation is brought to you by unpleasant co-workers. You know that one person that thinks everything they do is the best work ever done. The person who will do one thing all day and then get mad when you are trying to juggle five things at once. The type of person who is constantly negative about everything and always has a very specific opinion on anything that’s happening. I could go on and on about the person I have in mind but I’m sure you’re thinking of your own co-worker. There are days when I think “how can I possibly get through the day sitting next to this person” but then I think to myself, just because this person is bothering me they aren’t preventing me from doing the best I can at my job. That thought is something that I have been trying to work on every day when I show up for my job. It’s not fun working with difficult people, but sometimes we don’t have a choice. All we can do is put a smile on our faces and get the job done because in the end you will come out on top. I’ll be honest, I’ve struggled taking my own advice on this for a while and I’m still working on it. But I have come up with a list of ways to try to make working with difficult people a little easier.

So from my brain to yours, here is my top 6 ways to work with difficult people:

1. Don’t loose your cool. I know that it is easy to get overwhelmed and want to freak out on the other person for not helping, but by keeping your cool it will show your manager and other co-workers that you can work under pressure and juggle many tasks at once.
2. Don’t take it personally. This tip is really hard for me to remember. I like when people like me, so if one of my co-workers gives me a bit of an attitude or just doesn’t do their job, I take it to heart. I shouldn’t. We all have our bad days and at the end of the day, you don’t know what’s going on in that persons personal life. The reason they are upset or unhelpful could have literally nothing to do with you.
3. Don’t expect their behavior to change. There are many days where I sit at my desk and think “why am I sitting here helping every person that walks in and she is on Facebook”, yet day after day she does the same thing. If I come into work thinking she is going to change then I will just leave feeling frustrated. In different words, don’t expect anything.
4. Connect with the people you can help. In my line of work I have found that it is highly effective to make connections with the people I work with. Whether it is my other co-workers or someone who comes in needing help. I have had my manager come to me many times saying how great of a job I am doing because of those connections I am making. It proves that I value MY job over anything.
5. Try to understand why that person is difficult. I have worked with a lot of people in my life and something I’ve found out is that some people just don’t have a good work ethic. For all I know, she could be thinking she is doing an A+ job.
6. Offer your help. Even if the task they are doing is simple, if you have free time reach out and see if there is anything you can do to help them. Hopefully they will take a note and help you in return. Again, even if they don’t help you, you reaching out shows that you are willing to help when you have the time and that reflects positively on you.

I know that some days you will feel overwhelmed and underappreciated, but trust me when I say, I have used these tips myself and it has really worked in my favor. The most important thing to remember is that you are always going to have to deal with difficult people in your life, just make sure not to become that difficult person.

That’s all I have for you today! I would LOVE to hear your ways of working with difficult co-workers in the comments below!!

xoxo!!