Ten Things to Do When You Really, Really Hate Your Job

1. Begin focusing on what you want instead of how much you want to escape. When you find yourself sharing the latest horror story, stop in mid-sentence and say, "What I want to have is..."

2. Create an image that describes you in your job. Are you on a riverbank with no way to get to the other side? Lost in a jungle? Poking through a thorny hedge? When you get comfortable with the image, begin visualizing a change in the obstacle. Imagine building a bridge across the river or finding a path in the forest. Don't force the image or the change. When you're ready it will come.

3. Think of developing skills, not serving time. Take every course that's offered and focus on skills that can lay a foundation for your own business or next job. Can you learn HTML or PowerPoint? Can you use some evenings, weekends and lunch hours to solicit some free lance gigs?

4. Focus on satisfactory, not superior performance. Use the time difference to build your new life. People often say, "I can't do anything -- I work ten hours a day!"

If you are firing yourself or expecting to be fired, your job is finding a new job. Be ethical: you owe your company the minimum you need to earn your salary." But don't be surprised if you start to accomplish more than ever and find yourself getting promoted.

5. What conflict are you escaping? Dishonesty? Corporate greed? Hypocrisy? Allow yourself to wonder if these qualities are mirrored in your own life -- or even in your mind. If everyone around you seems dishonest, are you being dishonest with yourself? With others? After you resolve your own conflict, you may find the workplace has changed or you have been catapulted into a new, more satisfying life.

6. Put on your shield and armor when you enter your workplace. Everyone should learn how to create a psychic shield. Imagine that you are surrounded by an outer shell that is made of a solid material -- so strong that nothing can get through to hurt you. Some people prefer to imagine a protective golden light, but I think the solid shield is stronger. Take two or three minutes to put on your shield, every day, before you enter the workplace.

7. Give yourself a gift every day -- a splurge of time or sensual taste buds. Read a book, talk to a friend, eat your favorite food. Don't deaden your senses with alcohol (although if you're a wine connoisseur, your special wine can be a gift) or spend big bucks at the mall. Think simple.

8. Find at least one thing in your life to appreciate: the softness of your cat's fur, the winter sky, the spontaneous hug from a friend. Appreciate as much as possible about your job: the money, the view from the window, the new computer, friendly conversations with the guy down the hall. Savor the experience. Appreciation is the engine that attracts good things into your life.

9. Tune in to your intuition before deciding what to do next. Meditate and listen to the world around you. The saying "frying pan into the fire" is real. If your goals and desires do not come from a secure place within yourself, you will find yourself paying undue attention to wet blankets ("If you quit you'll never get another job") and false friends ("Just quit! Move to Tahiti! You won't starve!"). Sometimes the same "advisor" proposes both ideas in the same week. A good coach or counselor will give you confidence in your own intuition, not impose their views of what you should do now.

10. Write this down somewhere: After you've left -- and you will -- all that time will seem to have gone in the blink of an eye. You will have trouble remembering what bothered you so much. The rest of your life will still be ahead of you.

Is Workplace Romance Really Taboo?

You might have heard the warnings "don't dip your pen in the company ink," "don't go fishing off the company pier," in the U.S., and "don't mix business with pleasure," but for today's worker, that advice is considered outdated. With more time spent on the job, an emphasis on group collaboration and increased socialising with colleagues, today's workplace fosters more personal relationships among employees.

These days, more and more people have been involved in a romantic relationship with a colleague at some point in their career. CareerBuilder's "Office Romance" survey found that more than 55 percent of workers have gone out with someone who worked in the same company.

Vault.com reported similar findings in 2003, when 47 percent of workers admitted to having been involved in an office romance and an additional 19 percent said they would be willing to participate if the opportunity arose.

While the office tryst was once viewed as a no-no, society no longer frowns upon a romance that blooms between colleagues. 75 percent of workers surveyed told CareerBuilder that workers should be able to go out with anyone at work without repercussions. And only 7 percent of workers told Vault that office romances are always unacceptable.

"Not surprisingly, work turns out to be a good place to find someone who shares your interests, aims and ambitions," writes Margaret Heffernan in her book The Naked Truth. "The workplace is full of people who are exceptionally compatible with who we are: they have chosen the same area of work, they share many of our interests, they're often a similar age and driven by similar hopes and goals. And we're spending eight hours a day with these people! It's little wonder, then, that office affairs and marriages are so common."

Are these really one-time flings or are they legitimate couplings? Of those who told Vault they were involved in an office romance, 20 percent said it developed into a long-term relationship. And, in a survey of managers who dated someone from work by the American Management Association, 44 percent of respondents said their relationships led to marriage, 23 percent had a long-term relationship and 33 percent had short-term relationships. Studies show between 50 percent and 80 percent of companies do not have written policies on employees going out with one another.

Be careful: approach any office relationship with caution and check your employee manual to see if your company has a stated policy about employee relationships. At the first sign of flirtation, be discreet and think through the consequences if things don’t work out.

It's critical to remember that people talk, warns relationship columnist April Masini. "People talk. No matter how friendly your colleagues are, or how tight-lipped the object of your affection seems, secrets are almost always shared with someone, whether accidentally or intentionally," she says. On other words say nothing and do nothing that you don't want everyone else to know about.

Almost half of those who told CareerBuilder.com they were involved with a colleague said they tried to keep it under wraps. Some diversionary tactics included flat out denial, laughing it off and even staging arguments. Author and radio presenter Debbie Mandel says although the taboo has lost its stigma, there are some things to keep in mind if you do become involved in a romance at work.

Do your job efficiently and creatively. You cannot let your work ethic be compromised.

Be a team player and readily available to help others. Don't give people a reason to think you are only working with your sweetheart.

Stay clear of public displays of affection. Don't be demonstrative in public; leave that to lunch breaks or after work.

Remember that people do break up. Make sure you remain professional and don't burn bridges.