How to deal with 7 terrible work situations

Samantha Lee/Business Insider

As the great Pat Benatar once said, love is a battlefield, but honestly she could have been talking about work.

Sometimes it seems like you are giving nothing but challenges and impossible situations.

Work becomes a daily foot-in-mouth scenario.

However, even when it seems like you are given the ickiest of situations, there are ways to fix them.

Here are a few very tough work situations and how to navigate your way out of them.

1. Your boss takes credit for your work

This is a rough one. But there are ways to try to work through it without having a Wicked Witch-type meltdown in front of your boss and coworkers.

If your boss says, "I did this project," try to keep saying "we" to gently set the tone. This may help him or her get the message.

2. You have a very entitled coworker (or even worse, an intern)

You know the kind. They just think they are above the job and therefore don't need to do certain parts of it or put in any kind of effort. Though just yelling at them and telling them to get with the program sounds appealing, there are other tactics to take.

Try playing the good cop, which means you gotta play nice.

Tell them with compassion that you were once in the same position, and that you recognize their talent but they need to learn the duties and requirements of this role in order to be able to move forward. If you just yell at them, they will become defensive, and the situation will get even worse.

Tell them they have to focus on this role now so they can be ready for the next one.

3. Your boss is impersonating Miranda Priestly from 'The Devil Wears Prada'

Maybe she isn't throwing her coat at you, but she is asking you to pick up her dry cleaning and make reservations for her even though you are not her assistant.

Try having a calm talk with your boss in which you express your desire to become more involved with important, work-related projects. Also remind your boss that you were not hired to be responsible for organizing their personal life.