The Shaun's essential guide to working hard in the corporate world (well perceivably at least)

1. Always look busy - This can be done by firstly surrounding your table with tons of documents and files no matter how outdated or irrelevant those documents may be.

2. Always look busy - Volunteer to assist your colleagues always. However, they will seldom bother you if they see you poring over seemingly important documents.

3. Always look busy - Return your assignments either just on the stroke of the deadline or later if permissible or not urgent. This would create the impression that you are busier than you really are especially if you work for multiple boss.

4. Always look busy - Buy back your lunch. This allows you to get away from the crazy lunch time crowd and enjoy your lunch in the comfort of the airconditioned office (compared to a hot overcorwded stuffy and noisy food centre). Your colleagues would assume you have a whole backlog of work to clear, hence the deprivation of leisurely lunch.

5. Always look busy - Never be the last to arrive for work or after a lunch break nor the first to leave for lunch or for home. The more people arriving later than you or leaving before you, the more people you get hinking that you are actually busy.

6. Always look busy - Emails should always be cc-ed to all those working with you as long as there is even a fraction of relation to them. The more people you cc your email to, the more people you get cc-ing seemingly innocuous things back to you as well, thereby creating the impression that you are important and working your ass off.

7. Always look busy - And busy people never look their perfect best. Look good enough to avoid being deemed as sloppy but do can those perfect make up and totally crisp and proper ironed shirt. The more 'charmingly or captvatingly' dishevelled-in-total-concentration-of-work look, the better the act.

8. Always look busy - Walk around more often, but spend less time at the destinations. This could include walks to the pantry or the toilet, or even to the occasional offices to engage in idle banter and chat. This not only builds up your camaraderie among those who know you, but also increases an outsider's perception of your importance in the organisation.

9. Always look busy - Never answer the phone on the first few rings. Letting it run a little longer will never do any harm.

10. Always look busy - Somehow someway anyway just look busy! No one will ever know the difference between a word document regarding work or a totally senseless and ridiculous article stemming from a bored individual created during office hours for a private entry later on.