Some people who, for whatever reason, can't slam their workplace door behind them avoid going brain dead by cultivating exciting outside interests and hobbies. (Punch in "I need a hobby" on Google.)

Others hang tight and look for solutions at work. Psychologists say that if you're a misfit in your job, a big reason you're sleepwalking is a lack of control. You miss exercising the choices to do what you think is important. You can beat burnout, boredom and frustration, psychologists theorize, by shifting your focus to what you can do at work -- not what you can't do. A few examples:

-- Learn how your company works. As with being a sports fan, you have more satisfaction when you know how the game is played.

-- Build good working relationships. Assuming you're not a lighthouse operator in the Antarctica, you'll need the cooperation of others to make your ideas perk and your job interesting.

-- Be creative. Avoid being stuck in a rut of habitually doing things without experimenting with different approaches.

-- Set goals. You're more likely to feel you're on track and doing something interesting at work if you know where you want to go.

None of these suggestions will make you want to work until you're 110 at a job that's one big sleeping pill, but they beat going comatose until you can escape.