A good friend of mine currently has a job she hates. The hours are awful, the topic of the work is mind numbing, and a few choice employees are toxic and insist that every situation is an emergency. On the upside, though, the job pays extremely well and is less than a 15 minute commute from her home. Additionally, she knows that she is lucky to have a job at a time when a lot of people can't find work in her industry. She's been at the job for five months, and she's decided that for financial and professional reasons she will wait until January 2009 to start looking for a new gig.

Surprisingly, even though my friend has a job she can't stand, she is one of the happiest people I know.

How does she do it?

1. She doesn't let her job define her. She thinks about her job the way a teenager might think about his after-school stocking job at the grocery store.
2. She has a rich, active life outside the office. When she isn't at work, she fills every minute doing things she loves. She doesn't sit at home on her couch thinking about how awful her job is.
3. She views the position as a temporary state. She attends networking events and keeps the channels open so that when she goes back on the market, the transition will hopefully be a simple one into a new job.
4. She throws herself into her work when she is at work so that she never has to take anything home. In short, she does her work every minute she's at work, even though she dislikes it.
5. She organizes her day by doing the tasks she loathes the most first thing in the morning.
6. She tries to be a psychic and prepare for every possible, wacky situation her colleagues might put her into next. Even if she isn't successful at predicting their ridiculous demands, at least she is prepared for things not to go the way she would have done them.
7. When she's at work, she acts as if she loves her job. It's the ol' "fake it, until you make it" mentality.

My advice to her months ago was to quit the job. I've always been of the opinion that life is too short to have a job you hate. I have come to understand her reasons for keeping the job, and am even more impressed by how she is handling the situation. So, if you find yourself in a job you can't stand and leaving it isn't an option, try following her lead. Your home life will be more enjoyable for it.