#Busywork

[freackthejester]

Id like to submit a photo for the dictionary definition of "busywork"

[slinkywhat]

Opportunity Cost & AI

[An off-the-cuff essay no one asked for but I word-vomited anyway because I am exhausted]

I literally started a Python coding course on Friday so that I can ask ChatGPT or other AI tools to write me scripts to execute basic, tedious tasks that currently take up an absurd amount of my time.

I work a highly-paid role that’s supposed to be very strategic, but I’m easily spending 40-60% of my time executing repetitive, tactical tasks across multiple, disparate systems because my company (and every company prior—it’s not unique to this place) won’t pay for productivity software, automation plug-ins for our project management software, actual project managers, or additional junior headcount, our third-party agency partners don't have access to work inside internal systems, etc. etc. etc.

People spend more than half their day doing busywork, according to survey of 10,000 plus workers | CNBC, 2022

“The amount of time office workers have to spend doing their primary job duties decreased in 2016, from 46% to 39%. When asked what gets in the way of work the most, workers say wasteful meetings (59%) and excessive emails (43%) are the biggest offenders.” U.S. State of Enterprise Work Report | Workfront, 2016-2017

If you take just my salary and calculate the opportunity cost there, it more than justifies the cost of at least one or two these tools—then multiply that by all of the other employees in the company with the same or similar barriers to actual productivity and it’s literally a no-brainer.

opportunity cost (noun) • the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen; can be implicit (intangible) or explicit (tangible, dollar amounts); often calculated as the difference between the return on investment (ROI) between the most profitable business decision and the current/chosen one.

Alas, almost every company I’ve been at or heard about from others is short-sighted when it comes to realizing opportunity cost—whether from the ROI on investments like software, ongoing training, professional development, employee satisfaction and retention, systems maintenance and technological upgrades, user experience, or bare minimum marketing strategies—because they “cost money.”

I’ve never understood this, because humans have an inherent loss-aversion cognitive bias—psychologically, we’re twice as motivated by avoiding potential loss than we are by pursuing potential gain, and we’re more likely to take risks to prevent loss. I suppose the problem is that the culture of busywork is so ingrained that it’s perceived as the baseline, where “increased” productivity is viewed as a potential gain, rather than decreased productivity as a major loss.

Hasn’t anyone ever heard of short-term pain for long-term gain?

So, please hit me up if you have ideas on how to leverage ChatGPT and other tools to do things like batch cloning Jira tickets and generating documentation from templates; managing an overflowing email inbox; logging system data into disparate, static spreadsheets instead of intelligent, connected systems; manually searching old Jira tickets to append implementation dates to that data; finding and replacing duplicative instances of copy that aren’t using global elements/a single database source for management; pulling, consolidating, and analyzing reports from multiple disconnected systems; etc.

I’m really, really tired of spending my time and energy on easily automated work that does not challenge me or contribute to my sense of pride or satisfaction in my work, but does radically waste my time and my employer’s money.

Let’s help each other automate some shit and work smarter, not harder. It’s 2023 and we have not made all of these technological advancements just to ignore them and perpetuate the arbitrary 40-hour work week.

If we can spend half the time or less to reach our goals at work, then we can actually focus on the strategic parts of our roles to move the needle and invest more time in ourselves. We have the tools to be able to spend more of our time on personal passions and pursuits, family and friends, travel, leisure, hobbies, community engagement, volunteering, political activism, exercise and health, financial planning and management, home improvement, or whatever is currently being neglected or would improve our quality of life, happiness, and in return, our contributions to our workplaces.

Automation is the future. Contrary to much of the fear-mongering around the topic of work automation, four out of five knowledge workers see it as a chance to rethink work in new and exciting ways. Sixty-nine percent believe work automation will give them back time to perform their primary job duties better. The only hesitation that exists seems to lie in how much of work will ultimately be done by machines and how much will still require the human touch.” The State of Enterprise Work, U.S. Edition | Workfront, 2017 - 2018

It’s literally a win-win—except, perhaps, for the politicians and systems of power that seek to limit our financial flexibility, ability to organize, and the security to push for change.

P.S. Call and email your representatives—repeatedly—and tell them you will donate, campaign, and vote for their opponents in the next election if they do not vote NO on The Restrict Act.

——————

More reading for the nerds:

“Digital workers won’t settle for bad tech - Nearly half of workers say they’re likely to leave their current job if they’re unhappy or frustrated with workplace tech. (49%)” The 2021 State of Work — How Covid-19 changed digital work. | Adobe Experience Cloud, 2022

“Wasteful practices and tools—namely email and meetings—continue to thwart worker productivity. As in years past, poorly used meetings and email topped the list of things that keep knowledge workers from getting work done, with U.S. workers having an average of 199 unopened emails in their inboxes at any given time. This report certainly makes the case that email has reached the limits of its effectiveness as a work management tool.” The State of Enterprise Work, U.S. Edition | Workfront, 2017 - 2018

Why Busywork Is Making Your Employees Spend Less Time Doing Their Actual Jobs | Inc., 2016

Opportunity Cost: Missing the Mark on Motivation for Two Types of Employees | Maxim Kind, LinkedIn, 2018

[bluelupinblogs]

Is Your Business Drowning in Busywork? We Can Help!

Is your business drowning in a sea of busywork? Let us be your lifeboat! We can help you streamline operations and boost productivity.

Check out our latest Infographic post for more info and see how we can help you reclaim your time!

[mysticdragon3md3]

Why Are Cults So Obsessed with Cleaning? by Knitting Cult Lady

[zmyaro]

This is much less edited than my RambleZ have been in the past, but I am very tired.

[elucubrare]

i firmly hold that it's my duty as a reader to believe it when an author tells me at the beginning of the series that the dragons are gone forever and never coming back. but god it's a struggle sometimes.

[maddogpoetry]

Possibilities (next day repost)

Homework shakes Busywork Busywork shakes Homework Collaboration shakes Imagination Imagination shakes Collaboration Groundwork takes Footwork Footwork takes Groundwork Coordination takes Implementation Implementation takes Coordination Framework stakes Hard Work Hard Work stakes Framework Communion stakes Imitation Imitation stakes Communion Teamwork makes Dreamwork Dreamwork makes…

[homewrecking-lore]

A lot of daforge fanfics have Data going on a date or getting hit on while Geordi’s pining and writhing with jealousy but have we all forgotten that random storyline in Phantasms where Ensign Tyler has an obvious crush on Geordi, and Data is weirdly intense about it. Like:

SIR????

DATA HE IS CLEARLY NOT INTERESTED? CAN YOU COOL IT DOWN A NOTCH???

[front-facing-pokemon]

[gingermintpepper]

hi, i haven't read the iliad and the odyssey but want to - do u have a specific translation you recommend? the emily wilson one has been going around bc, y'know, first female translator of the iliad and odyssey into english, but i was wondering on if you had Thoughts

Hi anon! Sorry for the somewhat late response and I'm glad you trust me with recommendations! Full, disclosure, I am somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to translations of the source text of the Iliad + Odyssey combo wombo, which means I tend to prefer closeness in literal verbiage over interpretation of the poetic form of these epics - for that reason, my personal preferred versions of the Odyssey and Iliad both are Robert Fitzgerald's. Because both of these translations (and his Aeneid!) were done some 50+ years ago (63 for his original Odyssey tl, 50 flat for his Iliad and 40 for his Aeneid) the English itself can be a bit difficult to read and the syntax can get confusing in a lot of places, so despite my personal preferences, I wouldn't recommend it for someone who is looking to experience the Iliad + Odyssey for the very first time.

For an absolute beginner, someone who has tried to read one or both of these epics but couldn't get into it or someone who has a lot of difficulty with concentrating on poetry or long, winding bits of prose, I fully and wholeheartedly recommend Wilson's translation! See, the genius of Emily Wilson's Iliad + Odyssey isn't that she's a woman who's translated these classics, it's that she's a poet who's adapted the greek traditional poetic form of dactylic hexameter into the english traditional poetic form of iambic pentameter. That alone goes a very very long way to making these poems feel more digestible and approachable - iambic pentameter is simply extremely comfortable and natural for native english speakers' brains and the general briskness of her verbiage helps a lot in getting through a lot of the problem books that people usually drop the Iliad or Odyssey in like Book 2 of the Iliad or Book 4 of the Odyssey. I think it's a wonderful starting point that allows people to familiarise themselves with the source text before deciding if they want to dig deeper - personally, researching Wilson's translation choices alone is a massive rabbit hole that is worth getting into LOL.

The happy medium between Fitzgerald's somewhat archaic but precise syntax and Wilson's comfortable meter but occasionally less detailled account is Robert Fagles' Iliad + Odyssey. Now, full disclosure, I detest how Fagles handles epithets in both of his versions, I think they're far too subtle which is something he himself has talked at length about in his translation notes, but for everything else - I'd consider his translations the most well rounded of english adaptations of this text in recent memory. They're accurate but written in plain English, they're descriptive and detailled without sacrificing a comfortable meter and, perhaps most importantly, they're very accessible for native english speaking audiences to approach and interact with. I've annotated my Fagles' volumes of these books to heaven and back because I'm deeply interested in a lot of the translation decisions made, but I also have to specifically compliment his ability to capture nuance in the characters' of these poems in a way I don't often see. He managed to adapt the ambivalence of ancient greek morality in a way I scarcely see and that probably has a hand in why I keep coming back to his translations.

Now, I know this wasn't much of a direct recommendation but as I do not know you personally, dear anon, I can't much make a direct recommendation to a version that would best appeal to your style of reading. Ideally, I'd recommend that you read and enjoy all three! But, presuming that you are a normal person, I suggest picking which one is most applicable for you. I hope this helps! 🥰

[scribefindegil]

It's a good thing Mob Psycho taught me to have compassion for all human beings otherwise I would want to reduce whoever redesigned this Social Security form into a fine paste

[railroadz]

first week at the office

[bookinit02]

ran into my first student using chatgpt and honestly i was gonna be mad until i thought harder about Why he was using chatgpt and i was like well. that part of the assignment was kind of useless bullshit anyway so yk what that’s on me. consider it gone.

[masquenoire]

Hey everybody, sorry to have been so quiet lately! Nothing too horrible going on, I assure you but between cleaning an entire house from top to bottom, starting overnight shifts early, setting up a biiiig snake vivarium and getting a new baby to love and care for, it didn't leave much time for writing but now things are settling down! Officially starting overnights tonight and not... you know, Tuesday, but things are as good as they are busy! Hoping to start somewhere tomorrow inbox-wise after a GOOD sleep now that the nerve-wracking part of installing a gigantic vivarium is done for now!

[onebizarrekai]

I've been playing beta minecraft for reasons

bonus: windowed mode obliterated color glitch

[vinelark]

I failed to submit multiple homework assignments because I spent my midnight study time reading bbts instead. And you know what? Completely worth it, have a croissant.

✨🥐✨

Genuinely saved my day when I felt terrible on multiple occasions, I appreciate you so much.

hell yeah! i’m a homework hater (as in, hater of the concept of it on principle) so i support you doing something fun instead of a few assignments.

and i’m so glad it has brightened your day ❤️