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  3. How to appear busy while not doing anything?

How to appear busy while not doing anything?

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  • X Xiangyang Liu

    Yes, it is a serious question. :)

    My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"

    C Offline
    C Offline
    Christopher Duncan
    wrote on last edited by
    #5

    It's been my experience that all the best programmers take their idle time (all 500 ms of it) and use it to code something else that's cool and useful to the company, or at least a demo of it that they can pitch to their boss to see if the project has legs.

    Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com

    E M 2 Replies Last reply
    0
    • X Xiangyang Liu

      Yes, it is a serious question. :)

      My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"

      B Offline
      B Offline
      buchstaben
      wrote on last edited by
      #6

      you might want to keep a paper w/ diagrams in front of your keyboard and make some serious faces from time to time ;o)

      B 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • H hairy_hats

        Code in VB.

        P Offline
        P Offline
        Peregrinati
        wrote on last edited by
        #7

        lol

        1 Reply Last reply
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        • M Matthew Faithfull

          Not easy but I've had lots of practice :) . I spent 3 months waiting to quit my last job and not being given any work to do. I learned more about the bizzare history and colourful personalities of alternative enegy than any sensible person would want to know. I also wrote a vast and pointless class library, noted down dozens of really good idea for software projects I could be working on if I wasn't busily wasting time and listened to my colleague making disgusting noises by sucking his fingers :rolleyes: No, I don't envy you, I'd rather be genuinely busy.

          "The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage." Thucydides (B.C. 460-400)

          L Offline
          L Offline
          leppie
          wrote on last edited by
          #8

          Matthew Faithfull wrote:

          I spent 3 months waiting to quit my last job and not being given any work to do.

          That happens in every job I had, somehow management cant keep up with me :( (on the bright side, I guess it's better than being overworked).

          xacc.ide - now with TabsToSpaces support
          IronScheme - 1.0 alpha 3 out now

          K 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • X Xiangyang Liu

            Yes, it is a serious question. :)

            My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"

            V Offline
            V Offline
            Vasudevan Deepak Kumar
            wrote on last edited by
            #9

            Why do you want to pretend? What do you gain by such a deception?

            Vasudevan Deepak Kumar Personal Homepage
            Tech Gossips
            A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds, and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs; an optimist doesn't see the clouds at all - he's walking on them. --Leonard Louis Levinson

            X 1 Reply Last reply
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            • X Xiangyang Liu

              Yes, it is a serious question. :)

              My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"

              Z Offline
              Z Offline
              Zoltan Balazs
              wrote on last edited by
              #10

              Introduce new bugs and try fixing them ;)

              D 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • X Xiangyang Liu

                Yes, it is a serious question. :)

                My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"

                M Offline
                M Offline
                micmanos
                wrote on last edited by
                #11

                Here are some really good pointers .... 1. When you're not in your desk, always move around with a a printout or a pen in your hand but make sure that it's something meaningful and not some funny drawing. 2. Never run when you're moving (you spend more time like that) not to mention that everybody would think that you're trying too much to appear working. 3. Have yellow sticker posts on your screen which you move around (left-right-top-bottom) and finally discard at the end of the day. It lets other people know that tasks ARE being appointed to you and you ARE finishing them. 4. Never, Ever let the windows desktop show. It's a good practice to have at least 5 windows open (not the same program though) and also have a 6th opened but not maximized (something like Notepad, my favorite) and write some stuff like a TODO list. 5. In the rarest case that someone gives you something to do, never get off your chair at that instance but first save the Notepad and switch to the next window (AutoCAD, Word, ... etc). That way you're providing a clue that whatever you were doing is critical and important. 6. In the not so seldom case where your boss/supervisor sneaks up behind you and you're surfing the net ..... DO NOT PANIC and DO NOT MINIMIZE OR HIDE THE BROWSER. This doesn't however mean that you can surf to unrelated to your job sites. It's always a good idea to have the GOOGLE page handy with some results on the latest news on whatever your job is about. I'm sure that depending on your job description you can find many more ......

                A X 2 Replies Last reply
                0
                • X Xiangyang Liu

                  Yes, it is a serious question. :)

                  My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"

                  realJSOPR Offline
                  realJSOPR Offline
                  realJSOP
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #12

                  Get a government job...

                  "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                  -----
                  "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001

                  B G 2 Replies Last reply
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                  • X Xiangyang Liu

                    Yes, it is a serious question. :)

                    My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"

                    B Offline
                    B Offline
                    Brady Kelly
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #13

                    Massage your code. Refactor, rename, re-indent, un-indent, group methods, regroup methods, etc.

                    Semicolons: The number one seller of ostomy bags world wide. - dan neely

                    1 Reply Last reply
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                    • B buchstaben

                      you might want to keep a paper w/ diagrams in front of your keyboard and make some serious faces from time to time ;o)

                      B Offline
                      B Offline
                      Brady Kelly
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #14

                      Ooh yes, walking up and down to the printer is always a good one. :laugh:

                      Semicolons: The number one seller of ostomy bags world wide. - dan neely

                      1 Reply Last reply
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                      • Z Zoltan Balazs

                        Introduce new bugs and try fixing them ;)

                        D Offline
                        D Offline
                        DavidNohejl
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #15

                        But that's what developers normaly do...


                        [My Blog]
                        "Visual studio desperately needs some performance improvements. It is sometimes almost as slow as eclipse." - RĂ¼diger Klaehn
                        "Real men use mspaint for writing code and notepad for designing graphics." - Anna-Jayne Metcalfe

                        B 1 Reply Last reply
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                        • C Christopher Duncan

                          It's been my experience that all the best programmers take their idle time (all 500 ms of it) and use it to code something else that's cool and useful to the company, or at least a demo of it that they can pitch to their boss to see if the project has legs.

                          Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com

                          E Offline
                          E Offline
                          El Corazon
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #16

                          Christopher Duncan wrote:

                          or at least a demo of it that they can pitch to their boss to see if the project has legs.

                          I don't know how many times they have told me I couldn't do something because it was impossible to solve, so I did it anyway because I knew it could be. :) (on my own time of course)

                          _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

                          C 1 Reply Last reply
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                          • E El Corazon

                            Christopher Duncan wrote:

                            or at least a demo of it that they can pitch to their boss to see if the project has legs.

                            I don't know how many times they have told me I couldn't do something because it was impossible to solve, so I did it anyway because I knew it could be. :) (on my own time of course)

                            _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

                            C Offline
                            C Offline
                            Christopher Duncan
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #17

                            Exactly. It's also a good technique for people who want more out of their career. Want to be on the cool project? Want to play with the fun toys? Show the company what's in it for them and create your own.

                            Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com

                            E X 2 Replies Last reply
                            0
                            • realJSOPR realJSOP

                              Get a government job...

                              "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                              -----
                              "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001

                              B Offline
                              B Offline
                              Bert delaVega
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #18

                              Looks like he works for an insurance company. It should be easy to look busy while not doing anything.

                              X 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • C Christopher Duncan

                                Exactly. It's also a good technique for people who want more out of their career. Want to be on the cool project? Want to play with the fun toys? Show the company what's in it for them and create your own.

                                Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com

                                E Offline
                                E Offline
                                El Corazon
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #19

                                and if they still don't go for it, but it is too big to do in your spare time, try bidding on your own for it. :-D

                                _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • X Xiangyang Liu

                                  Yes, it is a serious question. :)

                                  My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"

                                  J Offline
                                  J Offline
                                  jjMan72
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #20

                                  Pick an open source project and contribute!

                                  Cheers!

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • X Xiangyang Liu

                                    Yes, it is a serious question. :)

                                    My .NET Business Application Framework My Home Page My Younger Son & His "PET"

                                    B Offline
                                    B Offline
                                    Bob1000
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #21

                                    Sorry to busy to answer that now...... :)

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • L leppie

                                      Matthew Faithfull wrote:

                                      I spent 3 months waiting to quit my last job and not being given any work to do.

                                      That happens in every job I had, somehow management cant keep up with me :( (on the bright side, I guess it's better than being overworked).

                                      xacc.ide - now with TabsToSpaces support
                                      IronScheme - 1.0 alpha 3 out now

                                      K Offline
                                      K Offline
                                      keslavi
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #22

                                      Nethack? You're typing, attentive, and not surfing the net.. http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20030912[^] http://directory.google.com/Top/Games/Video_Games/Roleplaying/Rogue-like/NetHack/Humor/User_Friendly/[^]

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • M micmanos

                                        Here are some really good pointers .... 1. When you're not in your desk, always move around with a a printout or a pen in your hand but make sure that it's something meaningful and not some funny drawing. 2. Never run when you're moving (you spend more time like that) not to mention that everybody would think that you're trying too much to appear working. 3. Have yellow sticker posts on your screen which you move around (left-right-top-bottom) and finally discard at the end of the day. It lets other people know that tasks ARE being appointed to you and you ARE finishing them. 4. Never, Ever let the windows desktop show. It's a good practice to have at least 5 windows open (not the same program though) and also have a 6th opened but not maximized (something like Notepad, my favorite) and write some stuff like a TODO list. 5. In the rarest case that someone gives you something to do, never get off your chair at that instance but first save the Notepad and switch to the next window (AutoCAD, Word, ... etc). That way you're providing a clue that whatever you were doing is critical and important. 6. In the not so seldom case where your boss/supervisor sneaks up behind you and you're surfing the net ..... DO NOT PANIC and DO NOT MINIMIZE OR HIDE THE BROWSER. This doesn't however mean that you can surf to unrelated to your job sites. It's always a good idea to have the GOOGLE page handy with some results on the latest news on whatever your job is about. I'm sure that depending on your job description you can find many more ......

                                        A Offline
                                        A Offline
                                        Anthony Mushrow
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #23

                                        You seem like some kind of expert on not actually doing anything...

                                        My current favourite word is: I'm starting to run out of fav. words!

                                        -SK Genius

                                        Game Programming articles start -here[^]-

                                        V M 2 Replies Last reply
                                        0
                                        • A Anthony Mushrow

                                          You seem like some kind of expert on not actually doing anything...

                                          My current favourite word is: I'm starting to run out of fav. words!

                                          -SK Genius

                                          Game Programming articles start -here[^]-

                                          V Offline
                                          V Offline
                                          Vikram A Punathambekar
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #24

                                          Wally? ;P

                                          Cheers, Vikram.


                                          The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray.

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