Im the sole IT guy at a non profit. I could probably have a movie playing, but if power shell is open I’m covered. It’s hilarious and glorious.
Make jokes about not being busy. Make them boldly in slightly non appropriate circles. Then lean with the same amount of conviction into compliments. Agree with full heart, be non apologetic with the same force used to joke about how little work you have.
This duality is powerful because on the one hand you clearly have nothing to hide, and on the other hand you’re painfully truthful. Works a charm. Then go have brunch on the clock.
Back in the day, I used to grab any piece of paper, and then walk around the entire office with a slightly angry and urgent look on my face as if I was going to talk to someone important. Do a lap. Back to your desk. Job done.
Your pace of walking definitely has a huge impact on people’s impression of you.
I used to work in a large manufacturing complex and two of us would walk around with clip boards pointing and taking “notes”. If anyone would ask what was going on, we’d say we were carrying out random health and safety inspections.
Gawd I’m so glad I work in a factory.
Y’all’s jobs sound fucking awful lol
It’s highly dependent on the job, the employer, and the employee.
Some love highly monotonous work and some hate it.
There is also a higher physical risk with factory work that should be considered.
True, I’ve lost consciousness due to the heat before so it’s not a safe work environment.
I guess I’d rather die than be bored.
That’s a weird choice but whatever works for you I guess.
When you’re bored every second feels like an hour.
When you’re dead time just flies by!
Fair enough.
You really have to find a job where you are not bored if you are able.
Don’t. Nobody cares cause they’re all pretending to be busy too.
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At my last company, we would walk around with our laptops. People would just assume we were looking for a meeting room or had something important to do.
I can’t quite remember what we did at our desks specifically. However, I do remember a guy I worked with used to browse Wikipedia and Tinder.
Co worker and I would book meeting rooms then close it up and play coop bloons
We used to play UNO. It started with 2-3 people and ended up with being 5-6 people playing and more watching. It was loads of fun
Play BitBurner, use Links browser.
I am now addicted to BitBurner and I blame you
You’re welcome.
Compile arch
I think once I saw a web browser that made websites look like its code. So you were looking for bugs while browsing.
There was certainly a plug-in or something that made Reddit look like an Excel spreadsheet, so reading Reddit made you look like you were doing important calculations!
Their reasoning being that their employees were using unethical behavior while the company itself has been in multiple lawsuits for unethical behavior
What does one call that again? Fucking hypocrits
I’m seldom observed, and I just wear my headset all the time and pretend I’m answering the phone if my boss comes along. I do surveys for money on my phone when I have down time. Made 5K over the last few years and haven’t paid for anything on Amazon since I began.
Care to share what you use to do surveys for Amazon money? How long have you been doing it?
Of course! About three years now, I use the apps HeyPiggy, Five Surveys, Qmee, and Leger Opinion (called LEO in the app store). It’s a grind but I really have made money; I paid for a 500 dollar shopping trip for clothes that way recently and both a ton of clothes (thank you Americans for having such good long weekend sales). I toted up my Amazon purchases over the time I’ve been doing it and I’ve bought 117 things. There are other apps but I don’t find them as good as these ones. I’ve only been using HeyPiggy three weeks and made 75 dollars.
Seek more work. Find tasks you can help on, earn brownie points, don’t offer to do anything extra that takes more than 30 minutes to get done. Don’t overdo it, and make sure to also use the downtime to grab a federally required break, stretch, drink water, meditate, do some calisthenics.
The first part boosts how you’re perceived by others: your bosses will take note of your enthusiasm, your coworkers will appreciate you more; this is why it’s important to not overdo it—you don’t want your extra effort to be the new baseline expectation.
The second part boosts your health, mood and productivity.
If you find you have more free time than these fill, consider asking your employer to sponsor certifications/continuing education in your field to further your career, or just talking with your boss about taking on more responsibilities for a raise. But still make sure to “leave room on your plate” to do the aforementioned breaks. If the money/career growth isn’t an issue, consider negotiating reduced hours so you have more free time.
Finally, a question where i can shine. You don’t have to do anything specific. Just do things.
Use a headset with your phone or laptop: You are on a call. Most people don’t speak much at online meetings.
Take a little nap? Thinking.
Want some time alone? Go to a meeting room. Works even better if the room has glass walls since you can see them and they can see that you are “busy”, but no one sees your screen.
Have multiple monitors. There’s always something work-related on at least one screen.
Have fields of interest that blend in. If one of your hobbies is vaguely related to work you are golden. You can totally read something unrelated to work during working time if it seems most your attention goes towards work. (See multiple screens and some switching back and force.)
Shift your working hours slightly from the norm, i.e. come 5 min earlier than others.
Don’t hide windows with non-work stuff when someone sees them. Too late. Act as if you have nothing to hide.
Do a reasonable work-life blend. Work overtime occasionally at odd hours and make managers know that you solved an emergency in your free time. Gives you an excuse to leave early or slack off the next day and any other day.
React to emails with a resonable delay. Of course, you can help, but not right now. You are busy.
Block your calendar and decline invites.
Don’t hide windows with non-work stuff when someone sees them. Too late. Act as if you have nothing to hide.
i’m sure someone will pop up here with these fake reddit things where it looks like you are browsing emails
Id say the one thing I kind of disagree with here is the emails. If I’m at my computer and the email says “Are you able to handle this 15 minute job for me by EOD?” I respond immediately “Yeah, I can fit that in.” and then go back to whatever it was I was doing and handle it later.
If someone is asking me to do a big job I dont reply immediately and go do some prep work for the big job and email them an hour later. “Not a problem, Ill get on it ASAP.”
If you respond and get tasks done immediately sometimes it makes them think you must be in the middle of something when you dont. When someone gives you a big task that will take 4 hours and they check in on you 3 hours after you reply to the email and you’re almost finished, it puffs up your ability.
But in general I agree, responding to emails is a great tool for managing perceptions and expectations.
Microsoft Viva Insights will really fuck you on this plan. There’s just no escaping it anymore.
I Remote Desktop from my personal computer into my work computer. All personal stuff happens on the personal computer, the work computer is work stuff only. There is no way for my work to know I am “goofing off” while working.
There is. Viva insights doesn’t even track keyboard and mouse activity as far as I know. It’s about teams usage, meetings, calls, chats, etc.
Oh I definitely still do plenty of that, I’m doing my job after all.
Viva la gone freedom
what does viva insights do exactly?
It’s a workplace monitoring tool dressed up as a workplace wellness tool.
You know that table that shows the risk of employees who might burn out, given their meeting frequency, teams interactions, email rate, work hours etc.? If you flip the sorting order, you can measure who isn’t doing enough (by whatever metrics the employer decides).
Leave. Go for a walk, or a coffee, or go home. Nobody knows you aren’t in a meeting room.
If your co-workers are into it, have a LAN party. I used to work at a place that had a daily management-approved kill session. It was good.
I take a 30 to 40 minute walk (2 miles) every day at work. Sometimes it’s to clear my head. Sometimes it’s to think about work. Sometimes it’s to think about not work. No one cares, and if they did, I’d argue it’s time well spent for the company. I can’t get anything done if my brain is overflowing with crap.
Man, a work LAN party would be pretty cool.
