Disclaimer: This is sort of related to the following archived post/thread, https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/5kyfuv/suggestions_to_deal_with_adhd_boss/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x. Apologies for the long post. I just don't know how to approach this properly, if it's even possible.

I am currently an assistant to an ad agency (small one) CEO. My job mostly consists of typing things my boss dictates to me either via phone, GoToMeeting, or dictation tape. I am responsible for typing everything up (sometimes long, recorded phone conversations) and making sense of them -- both typing up everything and then usually going through and parsing it out for the most important information only (call reports/summaries). However, my boss often both rambles and doesn't complete his thoughts. He starts a sentence, then moves onto something else, and then eventually either comes back to it or comes up with something completely different to end with. He speaks at an inconsistent pace and creates unreliable non-schedules so we're basically always on-call. [I've tried to have conversations with him about ways to work better, creating a schedule, etc. but he's always incredibly busy and distracted. I've worked "part-time" (the hours each week vary) for him through a staffing agency for the last 7 months and still don't know what my schedule actually is supposed to be.] He gets annoyed when I try to do anything that's not exactly in that half-second what he wants or needs...only to change his mind about the way he likes to do things moments or days later.

I am not a trained stenographer or secretary, but have years of administrative skills (beyond the actual marketing experience he could take advantage of if he ever chose to). I should be able to figure this out, even with my otherwise neuro-atypical brain (anxiety and depression - and possible BPD - instead of ADD/ADHD).

Besides his (undiagnosed) ADHD, he is a narcissist who treats everyone at the company poorly and created a toxic environment from which I'm currently trying to escape...

But because he's from an older generation, he will never change. He knows he's got a temper, but views it as a "learning experience" (according to the staffing agency when I reported his verbal abuse).

I live with a friend whom I've known for 25 years who has ADHD. I've seen her work hard to get through the obstacles and try to accommodate her needs as a friend/roommate whenever possible. I have anxiety (and depression - and possibly Borderline Personality Disorder, though that's not been diagnosed or conclusive in past testing) and I have worked hard to get to the "functioning adult" I currently am. His ADHD is something he should be dealing with - along with other things in his life - but isn't. And I don't know how to approach this when he will just snap at me.

When I am on the phone doing live transcriptions for him, he doesn't allow my comments or questions. He can't because they'll distract him. So I can't even ask for a break sometimes to use the bathroom, though I have tried to anticipate certain breaks in his thought tracks to ask anyway. Even while you're asking a question - finally! - he will interrupt because he's already anticipated what your question is. Never mind the fact that he HATES when he's interrupted or if you try to anticipate anything. He also interrupts you while you're answering his questions - after waiting only about a half a second before getting highly irritated that you haven't answered yet - because you either answered with incorrect content or in an incorrect way (he's big on just answering "yes" or "no" and THEN delving into further explanation...but never lets you get to that point). Usually my approach if I'm desperate for a break - bathroom or other from his verbal abuse - is just say that I need a break and hang up the phone. That way, he has to actually pause, at the very least to call me 5 times in a row while I'm in the bathroom. I feel like that's maladaptive, though, and I'd rather not act like a toddler in response to my boss's abuse.

He wants me to use my brain, but also not proof things. He wants me to send things to the graphic designer, but how DARE I actually try to ask her to do anything. He inconsistently wants me to type out exactly what he says (without fixing errors) - including emails written from MY account, not just his - but heaven forbid I try to figure out what he means when he says things like, "just mention X, Y, Z - you can write it..." (he does NOT want me to actually write whatever I judge as fit), OR tells me to cancel and then un-cancel and then switch various calendaring events around only to get mad at me when I've actually done what he asked and confirmed.

I know a lot of these issues come from untreated ADHD...but I feel like I'm pulling out my hair every time I try to make sense of what he says or try to bite my tongue to not say things. But I also don't have ADHD, so maybe this is something others can help with?