Linkedin Blog

They don’t call them the lazy days of summer for nothing.

Summer is the one time of year (aside from the much shorter holiday season) when everyone has numerous social obligations and is actively looking for ways to slack off. Weddings are standard, as are family vacations, reunions, barbecues, camping trips, concerts and festivals. Odds are that more than one person at work wants time off, usually to the boss’ chagrin (remember, he’s trying to leave town too!). Someone’s got to get the work done and the deadlines met on time. And that person is you.

In the world of career advice, there are a couple of firm no-no’s that make sense in theory, but in my many years of experience, these simply aren’t consistent with human nature. While yes, it may be best that you don’t find yourself attracted to the woman in accounting, or that you down a club soda rather than a glass of chardonnay at the company picnic, and steer clear of the water cooler conversation about the impending merger, but the reality is: she’s cute, it’s cold, and if you’re about to be down-sized, it’s better to be on the in than the out.

Whether you like it or not, gossip is a part of the career landscape. While you should absolutely steer-clear of the malicious, bullying, back-stabbing, falsehood kind of word-on-the-street, there are times and places when getting and having the goods are going to be hugely advantageous to your career.

If you’re like the majority of people around the globe, a day in your life consists of a never ending to-do list that doesn’t always get completed. According to LinkedIn’s latest study, professionals around the world use a pretty even mix of paper and technology to capture their daily tasks. We are also easily distracted and, especially if we work in law, chances are we’re not likely to knock off the majority of things on our to-do list.

At the end of the day, not all to-do lists are created equal and the quality of your list is tied to your success. So, does your to-do list need a makeover? Find out how here (right after the infographic):

This is a guest post on best practices around social networking from Nicole Williams. For similar posts check out our series on networking tips and tricks here. – Ed.

I’m guilty of this myself. When the summer months approach and I have more work than I can handle, I consider hiring an intern. I know there are students out there looking for an opportunity to build their skills, but instead of just putting out the call, I end up oscillating somewhere between: I could use the support, but sometimes it feels like it’s more work to train them than to do it myself – and on top of it all, I’m not sure I’m going to have a full-time job for them at the end of the internship.