How to Look Busy at Work Without Really Working 17 Steps

7/29/2019 How to Look Busy at Work Without Really Working 17 Steps

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How to Look Busy at Work Without ReallyWorking

If you're getting paid to do something, you should do it, and do it well. But is it always that simple?What if you have a vague job description, a haphazard workload, and a very strict boss who is only

content when you look busy, and doesn't realize or care that you are so efficient that you completed

your work early.

Let's say you and a co-worker must each enter the data from 100 files, or shelve 100 books. Youhustle and finish an hour earlier than your co-worker, and there's not much else to do. Your boss or

manager walks by, expresses displeasure at the fact that you're not doing anything, and assigns you

to an unpleasant, and really unnecessary task because they don't like seeing you relax (even thoughyou earned it by finishing your assignment faster, right?). What do you do? Quit? File a complaint?

Or slow down? These instructions are here for if you decide to reward your own efficiency by using

that extra time you earned for R&R--without your boss noticing.

Know what the standards are. At the end of the day, you still have to meet those standards ifyou want to keep your job. The main thing you should know is how much time your manageror boss expects you to spend on a particular project or assignment. Spend that amount of timeon it--no more, no less (unless, of course, efficiency is actually rewarded in your position, notpunished). If, for example, your boss expects you to spend 40 minutes on a task but you knowyou can get it done in 20 minutes, you should be able to sprinkle another 20 minutes of "funtime" in (broken up into 3-5 minute intervals) and still get the job done in have a totally cleandesk. Fill your work area with several projects that you are in the process of doing (or notdoing, as the case may be). Cover your desk with open binders, highlighted reports, and stickynotes all over the placemake your workspace look like a war zone. Remember to keep yourwastebasket full, too, preferably with work-related debris. A good boss will see right through

this, but your mean boss will be content to see youlook

busy (because it makes them look likea good manager).

Steps

Gostaria de aprenderComo Fingir Estar Ocupado no Trabalho Sem Realmente Trabalhar?

w to Look Busy at Work Without Really Working: 17 Steps http://www.wikihow.com/Look-Busy-at-Work-Without-Really-Working

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Ask a lot of questions. Think up complex questions about tasks you have to do and ask themof your boss or coworkers. Ask questions frequently enough and everyone will think yourereally wrapped up in whatever task you're asking about. Be careful what questions you ask,though, you dont want to sound incompetent.

Open some of the applications you normally use for work and have them visible on

your computers desktop. The applications, of course, vary depending on the nature of yourwork. For example, if your task is data entry, you should have one or more databases up andrunning.


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Make a decoy screen. For a good catch-all, open a couple programs that you use daily. Makesure that all are visible and fill up your screen so you look busy. Then, take a screen shot usingthe "Print Scrn" button, open MS Paint, paste the image in, then save and set that image asyour desktop background. You may also want to hide most of your desktop icons, as this couldbe a dead giveaway. Even if your computer is on the desktop, it'll look as if you are deep intowork! Here's another decoy: Next time you install a program, take a screenshot with the"installing" window. Make it your wallpaper when you need to leave the office so passers-by willthink youre just waiting for the installation to finish.

Scribble furiously. You may be making your shopping list or other personal notes, but towatching eyes it looks like you're throwing down ideas for the awkwardly scheduled end-of-daymeeting.


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Be alert. Not working is like playing a sport or game. Youve got to always be on your toes andready for anything. Try to anticipate your opponents next move for instance, does your bossalways stop by at certain times? Pay attention to audible clues (if you hear footstepsapproaching, a chair creaking, or a flourish of activity nearby, it could mean trouble).

Watch out for Big Brother. Most large companies now monitor their employees computerusage. Learn about your companys policies on internet usage, and learn about theirmonitoring efforts (it helps to make friends with someone in the IT department). If you cantrun afoul of the companys policies without making sure you wont get caught, dont risk it.


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On the front line, there are free programs you can install, called "virtual desktops", that willallow you to have two active desktops on your computer (one for work, one for play) that

you can switch between at the touch of a key when you hear the pitter-patter ofsupervisory feet.

You can also defeat this sort of monitoring by positioning your computer in such a way asto block someone elses view of the screen (blame the unusual positioning on glare orergonomics, if you need to explain it).

Sneakier IT personnel, who monitor usage on the backend, are harder to fool. Use proxiesto surf the web, or use cached Google pages of a website instead of going directly to thesite. There are also a variety of programs you can get (many for free) specifically designedto help you avoid detection. Search for them on the internet.

When surfing the web, even with a proxy or cached pages, neverdelete parts of your

history. Most IT loggers will see the sites deleted, and even if the logger logs every sitevisited, the techie will most likely not look meticulously at every site viewed. It just makesyou look suspicious.

Have lengthy personal conversations away from your work space. Remember: There'snothing wrong with a little personal chit-chat between colleagues -- in fact, many managersencourage camaraderie among staff members -- but if you yearn to discuss a sporting event,your weekend or any other non-work topic in length while you are at work, find someplaceother than your desk to do it. One good option is to book a pretend meeting with a friend (soyou appear busy on your email calendar). Book a conference room while you're at it so you

have a private space to talk. (Note: Don't try this too often, and in general try not to be seen toooften with any one friend or people will know what you're up to.)


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Visit friends in different departments, leaving your workspace very "busy" looking.However, make sure that you have a work-related topic to initiate the conversation and returnto if a supervisor walks by. For instance, tell the person next to you that you are going todouble check something with someone from a different department. What you're really doing isproviding yourself with an excuse if your boss wonders where you were for a little while. "Oh,didn't tell you? I wanted to double check and make sure both of our departments were on thesame page about the new ad campaign, I know it's an important issue and I would hate tohave any mix-ups."

Drink lots of water. Not only is water good for your health, it makes you have to use thebathroom a lot. Bathroom trips can take up a lot of time and are a legitimate way to waste timewhile still looking busy.


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Make personal phone calls away from your work space. We all know someone at workwho makes or takes too many personal phone calls. You don't want to be known as that

person, because people will assume that you are generally a slacker. When you need to makeappointments or just want to chat with a friend on the phone, find a phone away from yourwork space. Your best bet is to use a phone in a conference room. Make sure the conferenceroom hasn't been reserved by someone else (either reserve it yourself or wait until 5 or 10minutes after the hour to use the room). Bring paperwork and a pen with you and jot down theoccasional note, so that people walking by the room assume that you are on a work call. If theroom has a conference speaker phone, use it, but make sure the door to the room is closed.To passersby, a conversation on a conference phone = a work call. Oh, and keep your feet onthe ground: if you prop your feet on a table or chair in the conference room, all of your otherplanning will be wasted because it will be obvious to people walking by that you aren't working.Remember, your goal is to look like you are working even when you're not.

Always, always carry a backup prop. If youre going to be away from your desk doingsomething other than work, carry a document you might have been reading with you. It's bestif it's a "long term project" that you can convincingly say you were finally getting to. If you are

planning to sneak out of the office for an errand that requires your car, your backup propshould be a folder or large envelope. This way you can surreptitiously carry your car keys outof the office. Your best bet is to plan ahead on this one: when you get to work, immediatelyplace your car keys in a folder/envelope, along with other papers. Then, when you are ready tosneak out of the office, just grab the folder and go. If you have to dig for your keys, the tell-tale


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jingle will give you away.

Send mail to yourself. Opening mail that was sent to you by you can help waste manyminutes as you open, inspect and read the contents. If you feel that money is not an issue, aFedEx (USA) overnight envelope with signature required (pad it) will allow you the opportunityto open an "important" document and spend hours reviewing (and of course package more funstuff and sending out). Be sure to double envelope the "documents" and mark "confidential" onthe inner envelope.

Try Excel based games. There are a plethora of excel based games that will not require anyprogramme installations, even if your PC is monitored for programmes used, it would reportusage of excel which will not be bad in any case. just keep the volumes under check.


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Read a book. There are a lot of books available in PDF format, and are available for free. Justremember to do some faux typing or paper shuffling while you are intently gazing at yourcomputer screen.

Go to the Cafeteria to check the Lunch menu. Make a few short trips to the Cafeteria tocheck on that days Lunch menu. This is a legitimate reason to leave your desk and you mayrun into a co-worker for additional conversation and to consume more time.


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17Start looking for a new job. Regularly not having enough work to do can be a damper andresult in low morale particularly for the career focused individual, in such instances it wouldmake more sense looking for interesting work elsewhere rather than continuing the dailycharade of pretending to be busy.

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A few tips for appearing busy at yourwork station.

The more time you spend typing, the busier you look. But, control yourtyping speed. Fasttyping usually denotes email writing. Report writing or other work-related typing requiresreflection and much more care; unless you are a professional typist. Also remember to use thespacebar. As it makes a different noise to the other keys, it is noticeable when you're typingwithout it.

Keep it simple. If you're called on your whereabouts, have a nearly-true, simple, work-related

answer ready for any situation.

Windows+M/Windows+D is the shortcut to show the desktop instantly. Use this quickly to hidewhatever it was that you shouldn't have been doing while giving the impression that you'reburied in work.

Open several applications that cover your desktop. Depending on your job, these can includeOutlook, Excel, or some type of online program. Using Alt+Tab will allow you to switch fromwindow to window, so you can be surfing the web one minute and appear to be working onsome data entry the next.

In a less technical field (e.g. retail) you can get away with a lot if you just look intense and walkfast, especially if you have that back-up prop. When you look like you have an urgent mission,it's unlikely a boss will stop you to ask what you're really doing.

Disable your screensaver, or set the timeout for a really long time, so that it isn't so obvious thatyou haven't been at your desk for a while.

If by any means you are caught doing things (ON YOUR PC) you are not paid to do... just saythat you were mentally preparing yourself to meet your boss in person that same evening todiscuss the spare time windows in your daily work routine at office and ask for more workresponsibility

If by any means you are caught involved in long friendly discussions with other colleagues...just say that you were exploring possible additional responsibilities that you can take up in lightof the spare time windows in your daily work routine at office, and planned to discuss the samewith your manager that same evening.

If you're in a job that requires you to make a quota of phone calls per day/week/month, call up

Tips


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your bank or a customer service line and just let them put you on hold. Sometimes you can getup to 20 minutes of hold time before you get to speak to someone, at which point you simplyhang up. You're eating up your time, and on the computer that tracks call time, it will appear asthough you're busy pushing clients to buy. But this probably wont work when your calls aremonitored.

As a last resort you may be able to get a co-worker to do the work for you. - This is a morallywrong thing to do, and you will be caught sooner or later. Nobody can "fool all the people all the

time" - Nothing works better than to off-load your work to some innocent co-worker withoutletting them on that it is really your work. Wait until they have a toilet break and when theycome back, pounce on them saying that the Boss was looking for them urgently. Make it sounddramatic like 'It has to be finished by 3pm today or we lose a federal government grant for thisproject!' and watch them work through their lunch. Remember to ask them to send the reportback to you so you 'proof read it' for them (you are such a nice guy) and then you can claimownership and delete their name and replace with yours before sending it to the boss.

Never brag about how you cut corners at work to other peoplethe people to whom you bragmay be interviewing at your company soon or know someone who works there.

These tips work best if used sparingly. If you end up getting little or no work done, youre boundto get caught at some point. Even if you dont get caught, youll have nothing to show for thetime you've spent at the office. Use these techniques just to break up the day and make it go byfaster, but then get back to work or risk losing your job. [Note from someone who spent a lot oftime trying to look busy at a job a few years ago: any boss who is even mildly bright will catchon to your game if you play it regularly. In my first performance review, my boss said to me, "Itseems to me that you are doing the bare minimum in your job." How embarrassing! I felt like an

idiot.]

You may be inclined to disable your screen saver to leave the impression that you haven't beenaway for too long, however, disabling your screen saver gives other employees easy access toyour machine. If someone accesses your computer, you will be held responsible for the actionsperformed on your computer because someone else will essentially have access to youraccounts. Alternatively, you can lock your screen by pressing Windows+L.

If you do decide to download programs to help you not get caught, make sure you do it whileyour computer's notbeing spied on. Some office networks have a program installed that allowsan administrator to view live screenshots of all of the monitors on a network.

Stay away from doing external paying work on company time. Sure, it seems like a great idea towork on your side job while youve got some time to kill at your main job, but its a bad idea. Ifyoure caught, youll almost certainly be fired, and in some jurisdictions your company can sueyou for your wages and damages.

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How to Look Busy at Work Without Really Working 17 Steps