The work is sheer boredom. The pay is relatively low. And you are trapped in a maze, with little prospect of advancement. What more could you want in your job?

How about being out of a job, for a change?

You can wake up as late as you want and turn over and go to sleep. But other than being idle, there are few activities you can do. You can’t shop and buy anything you fancy. You can’t book a cruise to Phuket when you want a change of scenery. You can’t gorge yourself at a buffet spread in a 5-star hotel.

If you haven’t discovered yet – the nice, enjoyable things in life cost money, money that you can only get from working in a job.

If you’re out of National Service and into your first job, motivate yourself by thinking of older folks who are jobless and dying to get a job, any job.

Workers who feel depressed most of the work days, brighten up during pay day. It’s motivating, they will tell you, when you queue at the ATM to wait your turn to draw out a few sheets of crisp, blue $50 notes.

The question is: how do you avoid being depressed and stressed at your workplace before the next pay day? Employers don’t like depressed and bored workers – they’re bad for morale and they infect others so that productivity goes down and the company’s revenue suffers.

Career counsellors agree that stress goes together with depression. Reduce the stress level and you will feel lighter, brighter and more cheerful about work.