Caught myself doing fake work for 6 months before a coworker said 3 words

At my last job in Austin, I realized I was just rearranging spreadsheets to look busy instead of actually solving the client's problem. The tip off was when my teammate asked 'what changed?' after I presented a report that had zero new numbers in it. I'd been polishing formatting for half a year while the actual issue sat untouched. Has anyone else caught themselves optimizing the wrong thing just to feel productive?

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robinj2917d ago

Wait, six months of formatting spreadsheets and nobody said anything until your coworker hit you with 'what changed'? That's wild to me, man. I mean, I get the urge to look busy, but half a year is a long time to keep that up without someone calling you out or the client themselves getting frustrated. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like most people would've cracked way sooner, either from boredom or guilt. The scary part is how easy it is to trick yourself into thinking polishing is the same as progress, especially when the real problem feels too big to tackle. I've definitely been there where I'd rather tweak the easy stuff than face the hard thing, but six months is a whole other level of commitment to the fake. Honestly, it sounds like your coworker did you a favor, even if those three words stung at the time.