... for a new boss if not a new employer.

Presumably, you do immediately execute the tasks assigned to you, so your boss should have no complaints. If the only thing that you do that annoys your boss is asking about the work that's ahead, he has no legitimate complaint.

You deserve the opportunity to understand what it is that you're doing. If your boss resists your effort to know what you're doing, it's probably because he fears that you will ultimately expose his incompetence.

A boss who beats you or who cheats you is bad. A boss who fears you is much worse, because he will eventually do either or both.

However, if your boss refuses to give you information, you can, often enough, get it elsewhere, and it is uncumbent on you to do that.

One caution, however. DO NOT LET YOUR ASSIGNED DUTIES FALL BEHIND SCHEDULE JUST BECAUSE YOU NEED TO SATISFY YOUR CURIOSITY. That's a recipe for disaster, because your name will then be widely associated with such behavior, mainly with failure to keep up on your work and failure to perform your assigned duties. Nobody cares why you don't do your job. If you don't do it, that's all they'll remember. It's also what they'll tell anyone and everyone who asks, and that will damage your reputation and carreer.

RE