If you are currently living in the Northern Hemisphere, it is summertime. The thermometer is higher along with your kids' energy level and number of reruns on television.

Another signal of summertime - a greater number of people taking vacations from work.

Over the past few months, my husband and I have had several family members and friends at our lake house who were doing just that -- taking a vacation from their jobs. (We continue to be honored that they spend their precious few vacations days with us.)

Even in a tough, highly competitive economy, there's a lot you can do to further your career. Whether you want to move up in the ranks at your current job or seek out your passion and find the success you've always dreamed of having by starting your own business, sometimes all you need is a little motivation to get you on the right path. These lectures from experts in a wide range of fields will do just that, offering guidance on everything from the true meaning of success to improving productivity to help you kick your career into high gear.

If I asked you "do you need a vacation?", your answer is probably “seriously, Caligiuri, of course. Who doesn’t?” Vacations can provide many positive benefits for your body, mind, and spirit. In fact, a meta-analysis by Professor Jessica de Bloom and her colleagues found that vacations have positive effects health and well-being (Journal of Occupational Health, 2009, 51:13-25). You probably didn’t need the research to tell you that.

Here is a tougher question: will you take a vacation this year? The answer to this question answers will vary tremendously, along our diverse definitions of what a vacation means (at home on a hammock or a climb up Kilimanjaro).

Everybody's workin' for the weekend

Everybody wants a new romance

Everybody's goin' off the deep end

Everybody needs a second chance

(Lyrics from the 1981 song by Loverboy)

If you’ve never heard the song, or would like to trip down memory lane in red leather pants check out the YouTube video.

Work-related freedom over our time looks very different for each of us: Your child has a fever. (You stay home.) You need to study for an exam. (You go to the library instead of the office.) The surf’s up. (You head for the beach and work in the evening.)

Don’t most of us want a fulfilling career which would also enable us to flex our time, as needed, to attend to family, social, or other life priorities? Of course we do. Well, we think we do.

Full freedom to direct time, as needed, to balance the spheres of one’s life seems as though it should be positive for all. There are caveats, two specifically.

This work-life harmony blog is ONE year old today!

Your suggestions for ways to make year two better than year one are most welcome and always deeply appreciated. I continue to be humbled by the wonderful response to this blog and thank everyone for the comments and questions. I encourage you to keep them coming. If you do not want to comment directly on this blog, please send your comments and questions to me via email at paula@paulacaligiuri.com.

All birthdays need presents, right? For this blog's 1st birthday, it was given a few new features. They are:

I love the concept of gardening -- connecting with the earth, the beauty of flowers and plants, the feeling of accomplishment.

Sigh. If my garden had eyes, they would be rolling. If it had a mouth, it would be laughing -- or, more likely, complaining. As far as I know, there is not a Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Plants; if there was, I am certain I would be some list. My Mom, Dad, husband George, and some local kids who are saving money to by iPods have (thankfully) come to the rescue of my thirsty, rocky, and weedy garden. It looks great, no thanks to me.

We all need vacations, time off to recharge our mental and physical batteries. I believe we all have a personal meter that tells us when we are over-heating and need to switch off for a while to avoid burnout. Research conducted by Air New Zealand in conjunction with former NASA scientists found that individuals’ post-vacation performance improved nearly 25% compared to performance before vacation.

You really do not need to be a NASA scientist to understand that vacations are good for the body, soul, and career. But, here’s the big question: what is your idea of a “great vacation”?

On Friday at 8:30 AM, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the U.S. jobs report for the month of May. Unemployment is high (9.7%) and private sector job growth is weak. On the same day, stocks fell to their 4-month low, with concerns that high unemployment forecasts lower consumer spending. From Wall Street’s perspective, this makes sense. Main Street, however, might have a different interpretation.

The good news (and there is good news) is the positive direction of the trend line. The trajectory of jobs (lost or created) since January 2009 is heading in the right direction.

Looking deeper than the top-level trend line, however, my optimism is tempered with realism. Consider these:

About 20 years ago I was given a piece of well-intentioned but rather bad advice. I was advised to tone down my positive affect in the workplace – specifically, to stop smiling so much. If you are reading this and know me personally you are probably smiling at the thought of me, in my 20’s, in front of a mirror working on not smiling. If you don’t know me personally, I’ll share data point: at the photo shoot for this website, the photographer noted that I had only one “look” that worked – smiling. The others, he correctly noted, looked unnatural (scary, if you ask me).