There are these three great websites/blogs that I love. They are ridiculously cool, visual, colourful and distracting. And a bit trashy. Perfect. They are WhoWhatWear, Domaine and Byrdie.



Over on Domaine at the moment is this article; 15 Professional Habits You Should Develop by Your Mid-20s and it's really a bit well, some of the advice is good, solid. And some is a bit presumptuous.  Go have a read, I'll wait here. When you come back you can read my take on the professional habits you should develop by your mid-20s:

1.  Do the work. Especially the boring stuff. maybe it's filing, maybe it's vacuuming, maybe it's general admin. Do the work or no one will give you the opportunity to do better stuff.
2. Do more than is expected. Show some initiative. In your 20s you want to develop a good reputation and have people who will speak highly of you as your career progresses. People who do more than expected will always have people who advocate for them.
3. Don't watch the clock and get to work on time. Stay until the work is done or come in early. When you are learning it always take longer to do the work.
4. Dress appropriately for the job. Short skirts, trashy shoes (think porn star), too much makeup and cheap hair extensions only work if you are a porn star. Or a Kardashian. Better to err on the side of conservative in your mid-20s unless you are in a very creative job.
5. There is no point spending lots of time on your LinkedIn profile unless you have some experience to write about. Generally in your mid-20s you don't have that much experience. It would be better to focus on other stuff. 
6. Focus on developing the skills you will need throughout your career. Presentation skills, good business writing skills, whatever the key things are in your field that will mean you are a success in the future. Not sure what these are? Ask.
7. Work hard and play hard but don't play so hard you can't make it to work the next day. I have had some great nights out with work collegues but I always fronted up the next day. 
8. Know when to shut your mouth. The problem with your mid-20s is that you think you know everything. You don't and when you talk a lot with confidence about things you really really don't know much about to people who really do understand you just come across as arrogant and immature.
9. Learn how to manage your workload. Bright young things always want to take on more but overcommitting and under delivering is not a good look. Doing a really good job on a couple of key things is better than doing an ordinary job of lots of things.
10. Manage your social media accounts. I wrote about it here
11. Demonstrate you want to learn. That you are willing to listen and act on feedback.
12. Maintain or develop life balance. Have outside interests. Play sport, maintain friendships and have hobbies outside your professional interests.
13.  Stick it out. Some jobs are hard and some in the end are soul destroying but having roles with some longevity on your resume will hold you in good stead
14. Emulate those in the workplace who are respected. What are they doing that you could try? Would they mentor you?
15. Don't take it too seriously. Your 20s are about having fun, while establishing your career.