Has this ever happened to you? You're with some co-workers (could be at happy hour, at lunch, whenever) and suddenly the conversation turns into an office gossip-fest. You know you shouldn't. It is not nice and could even be career damaging. But, there you are opening your big fat mouth, blurting out some juicy piece of information that you swore you'd never repeat. Now you feel terrible about yourself. You know as the words are coming out of your mouth that it's probably not a good idea, but you can't seem to stop yourself. Later, you worry about the consequences. What if somehow word gets around and is traced back to you? Ick. It reminds us of the way we feel about French Fries. Well, if this hasn't happened to you consider yourself lucky. You will now be prepared when it does happen, because Noelle and I have composed a handy guide to help you "just say no" to office gossip: A simple but often overlooked way to avoid gossiping with and about co-workers is to actually get to know them. Find out what else you have in common other than your jobs. Noelle and I discovered we both like crosswords. So, every day we spend the first part of our lunch chatting and eating, and spend the second half taking turns at the Red-Eye crossword. We know we are total nerds, but it has kept us from falling into a gossip shame spiral, and it is actually a nice mental break from the workday. It can be helpful to throw a "Venting Party" with your friends outside of work. Gather a few of your girls together, head to a lounge or one of your houses, then drink wine and start bitching! We are not denying that you need to gossip and complain, but this way word won't get back to the office crowd. Note: This kind of party is not to be held often and all guests should be pre-warned as to what they are getting into. We all gossip and bitch and we all support our friends, but no one wants to listen to you complain about your job all the time! At this age, it can be difficult to establish and maintain appropriate boundaries between employees and superiors. It is totally possible that you are a 23-year-old Manager with a 24-year-old assistant, or something to that effect. Because of your ages, you probably have a lot in common and have maybe even become friends. If you are the Manager, you should resist the urge to get too chummy with this assistant. Although you are close, you are still her boss and gossiping about another Manager's terrible taste in clothing may not be a great idea (assistants talk- think Llyod on Entourage). In reverse, as an Assistant, if you get too tight with your boss, you may spill some info that you normally would not share and that could come back to bite you (i.e. telling her "I am sooooo hungover today!") Last and most obviously, try not to get drunk with your co-workers. Well, not excessively drunk at least. Basically, you should be somewhere between the second and fifth person to leave an outing (depending on how many of you are there, but you get my drift). It is important to bond with your co-workers outside of work so you shouldn't be the first person to leave if you can help it. But, you should never linger too long, as the night only gets sloppier the later it gets. Next thing you know not only will you be flapping your trap about some office scandal to the President of the company, but there will be plenty of colorful stories about you told around the water cooler the next day.