A little psychology can be helpful when you have to endure exhausting people in the workplace. Every job has types that you might not always be able to handle. Energy suckers, maladies, gossipers, and boasters consume resources and overload nerves and coping.

An hour's "brisk exercise" each day offsets the risks of early death linked to a desk-bound working life, scientists suggest. The analysis of data from more than a million people is part of a study of physical activity published in the Lancet to coincide with the Olympics. Watching TV was found to be worse than sitting at a desk, probably because of associated habits like snacking.

You’ve had another rough day at work.

And as you’re talking about your lackluster job or about feeling lost in your career path, a well-meaning friend or relative responds with, “Well, what do you want to do?”

Silence. If only it were that easy, right?