We’ve all been there… in fact, we may well be there right now, reading this! The art of looking busy at work, and I say ‘art’ because to perfect this takes years of practice, more effort than you’d expect, and some innate talent for avoiding working too hard.
It’s not just for the inherently lazy people either. Dodging work could be for the greater good… for instance, by avoiding doing some of the more soul destroying, mind numbing tasks in the office, this may prevent you from tipping over the edge and actually telling your fellow co-workers what you really think in the team meeting when they have asked you a question that is just full of office jargon that they probably don’t even know the meaning of!
So, 10 ways to look busy..
- ‘Mark as unread’ – even once you have opened, read and responded to an email, mark it as unread and leave it in your inbox. This alone doesn’t do much, but the incremental effect over time gives the impression that you are so popular, and the person that everyone contacts to get things done that you have so many emails to deal with that you must be busy!
- A busy desk – If you have a desk / workstation. Don’t file your paperwork away, or shread stuff you don’t need. Get some lever arch folders, some plastic wallets, and other stationary in order to keep piles of paperwork, client and supplier correspondence, internal memos, etc. Who looks busier, someone with piles of paperwork or a clear and orderly desk?? The person with the clean and tidy desk obviously has far too much time on their hands!
- Walk fast everywhere – people will think that you are too busy to walk at a normal pace, as you are clearly in so much demand, and therefore they wouldn’t want to trouble you by asking you to stop, or dare try and keep up with your rapid pace.
- Eat your lunch at your desk – When colleagues ask if you are coming for lunch, explain you are far too busy to leave your desk, but thank them anyway. This can have the double bonus of having some quiet time to browse the internet, watch videos on youtube, check your social media, etc in peace whilst you colleagues go to the canteen for lunch.
- Networking – If you work in an office environment, walking around the office and speaking to various colleagues in different department is usually seen as networking… but if done smartly is also an effective way of informing several people directly (and even more who happen to hear your conversation indirectly) of how busy you are, how much work you have to do, and how little time you have to do it.
- Use your calendar to block out time for tasks – People try and book a meeting with you and they see your calendar is really full (or appointments which you have put in)… some are for ‘checking emails’, ‘updating documents’, etc…
- Meetings – Surely it won’t get done properly but just picking up the phone or speaking to someone face to face…. a meeting will ensure that things are done in the best possible way. Don’t forget to send out a generic agenda that you have personalised (and spent a great deal of time doing it, as you had blocked out time in your diary to do it).. at least a quarter of the time people have a meeting is a waste of time, rarely starting on time as people are getting a coffee (or walking quickly from another meeting), then introductions / small talk, etc.. But if you are in a meeting for an hour, you have been busy for an hour
- Long days – even if you aren’t the first to arrive in the morning and last to leave at night, on the days that you are, make sure people know about it. Remind them what time you had to get up, how dark it was when you arrived/left, how knackered you are because of it, but how you know it’s all part of the job and how you are ‘used to it’
- Late pass – Send a request just before you are expected to give an update to someone about the issue in question, that way passing the buck to someone else, i.e. “Sorry, I haven’t got that task completed yet as I’m still waiting on the information from X department”… even though it’s probably not even landed in their inbox yet, and you should have asked them weeks ago!
- Overcomplicate the Simple – If you are the only person who does a particular task, or one of a few who are all like minded, then making the illusion that the task takes longer than it really does will allow you to either take your time, or complete 99% of the task, and then finish the final 1% just before the deadline..
stopdreamingandstartliving 