Another woman, who works for a Miami company that sells refurbished copy machines, said her employer used fear as a motivational tactic and wrote people up if they didn't produce at a certain level every week, or even if they were 10 minutes late. She broke out in hives and could only focus on not losing her job, not on performing well.

The advice for both: Consult the company's human-resources department for professional recommendations.

Susan ended up retiring early after getting assistance from HR. The Miami woman chose to become more realistic and to work harder, Glenn said, realizing she wasn't in complete control of whether she lost her job and had an opportunity to shine if she didn't.

"Instead of going to a job you hate every day and living with all the stress and anxiety, you need to sit down and address it with the powers that be," he said. "Nobody's going to get done what you've got to get done while there's an elephant in the room. You've got to kill it while it's small."

Crane's dos and don'ts for those dissatisfied with their current positions includes one that may be tough to follow: Don't let co-workers know how unhappy you are — word might get back to the bosses. That means not mentioning it in conversations, text messages or e-mails.

Another tip is to build a professional network so you can obtain mentoring and support outside your office and learn of job opportunities.

Some old-fashioned advice also can be helpful: Focus on a job's upside.

For example, Crane says she constantly is asked how she deals with a job that requires her to be on the road 90 percent of the time. Downplaying the inconvenience, she tells people she is "the luckiest person in the world" because she gets to go in, solve a problem and move on.

A recessionary economy isn't new and won't last forever, she notes, so people shouldn't worry excessively. But they shouldn't be surprised if they are unhappy in a job, and may have to simply hunker down and take it.

"The reality is that work is work, and it's not always fun," Crane said.