So it’s summertime and you’ve headed back home to familiar places. You’ve spent the first week or so catching up with old high school friends and lounging around the house in baggy sweatpants. You’ve been challenging 12 year-olds in League online every day, while enjoying mom’s amazing home cooking. Everything is going great. Then you wake up one morning (or afternoon) and reality hits you like a truck… it’s time to go back to your job. And not a new, fun job. The old one. The one you said you’d never do again. The one you hated going to every day, but it paid the bills so you stayed year after year silently cursing the ground you stood on and vowing to haunt the building’s ashes long after you were dead and gone… yeah, that job.

We all hate going back to THAT job, especially when summer break is supposed to be a fun and relaxing time in between semesters. But, in the classic words of Troy Bolton, "we still have the ingredients to make this summer sweet". Here are ten ways to survive at your old job back home.

1. Discover new ways to challenge yourself.

Yeah, so you’ve worked at this job for a long time and basically could train someone to do it in your sleep. But, have you ever tried mixing the drink in under two minutes? Have you ever tried clearing the tables WHILE taking a phone reservation? Have you ever tried seeing how many packages you can label before the next customer gets in line? If multitasking hasn’t worked great for you in the past, then be careful with this one. If you’re spending your entire day bored out of your mind at a job you hate, try something new. Find something to make work interesting.

2. Build better relationships with those around you.

Maybe you’ve known everyone there your entire life or maybe they’ve hired an all-new staff. In either case, there is always an opportunity to build better relationships with your coworkers. When you like the people you’re working with, the job tends to move along faster. Take the time to get to know someone more and you may find a gem in a person you never really noticed before.

3. Set daily goals for yourself.

You have 10 spreadsheets due by the end of the week? Your goal is to finish two per day. You have a crazy weekend of ringing up gifts for Father’s Day? Your goal is to put on a smile for every one of your customers. If your daily duties seem a bit mundane or hectic, stay engaged by setting a goal for every day you’re on the job. It keeps you productive and it keeps management happy (and when management is happy, you are happy).

4. Always give yourself something to look forward to.

There’s nothing worse than being stuck at a job performing monotonous tasks every single day for the foreseeable future (or at least the summer). If your job has given you the working version of senioritis, give yourself something to be excited about at the end of the day. For a lot of people, it’s simply counting down the days of the week until Friday and payday hits. For you, it might be the weeks until you get to go to that concert with your fellow Indie-loving friends. It might be the days until you get to go on that epic road-trip with your college buddies to California. Heck, it might even be the hours until your lunch break. In any case, on the most boring day, it’s great having something to look forward to.

5. Volunteer to do things outside of your job description.

One sure way to not only make yourself stand out as a great employee, but add some variety to your job is to do work outside of your job description. If the intern usually gets the boss coffee but is running late and you’ve got nothing to do, make the run to Starbucks. Sometimes doing little things that might be considered “below your pay grade” can get you recognized as a reliable and humble employee. It might even be saving the janitor another half-hour at work by vacuuming your own work space. Don’t sell yourself short, but don’t underestimate the powers of doing the small things.

6. Talk about it.

If you’ve been having just the WORST time at work but you still have to go back, talk to someone about it. Talking through your frustrations and problems is a fantastic way to get them out of your system and prevent them from being unleashed in an inappropriate setting (like the workplace). Sometimes even discussing your issues with a close friend for 5 minutes can improve your whole outlook and have a therapeutic effect on your mood.

7. Find a way to improve your work space.

If you’ve been working in the same space for the past 3 years, maybe it’s time to change things up. Try reorganizing your stock or inventing a new system of handling calls. Try getting rid of some of the clutter that takes up your storage room or forming a new method of taking an order. You may be surprised how much more enjoyable your day becomes when you take the time to improve just one aspect of it.

8. Watch and learn.

You may think you know everything there is to know about your workplace, but I guarantee you there are still nuggets of wisdom to be found. Yes, even in the frozen yogurt store. Take a minute once in awhile to observe the actions of those around you and the good (or bad) consequences that follow. Maybe there’s a reason why your coworker never accepts tips. Maybe there’s a reason why your boss always tells the same stories. You’ll never know until you stop to listen.

9. Remind yourself why you're there.

There will always be those days at every job when you sit back and think to yourself, why did I ever start working here? What was I thinking taking this awful job? When those moments come, the best thing to do is remind yourself why you’re there in the first place. If it’s just for money… that’s your call. When it’s temporary, I personally see no shame in the ballin’ game. If it’s because you love the industry you’re working in, then keep pursing it. If it’s because you want to make a difference in the company, then stay and make the difference. Your motivation behind your actions will always be worth considering before stepping away.

10. Be the change.

Lastly and perhaps most importantly, be the change you would love to see at your job. If you’ve been working in a negative environment, be the ray of positivity that brightens everyone’s day. You can’t expect your situation to change if you don’t make an effort to help it do so. You have an influence on those around you, so be an uplifting one. It’s all up to you.