When I worked in software, the BS work equivalent would be our daily standups. We all went around and shared what we did the previous day, (even if we only worked for 1hr because the other 6hrs were filled with mandatory meetings). It was the most colossal waste of time ever. Like sorry, I don’t care if you went to this meeting or that meeting yesterday -- it has no impact on my work. And people would try to pad things to look good (plus our team was 14 people), so our meetings would always take unnecessarily long. Not to mention we used a tool that made us present “popcorn style” so we had no choice but to pay attention for the full duration. 🤦♂️
David Graeber is applauding the heck out of you in his grave for this essay. 🫣 What a banger as always. Love the point about how looking productive keeps you from actually being productive.
I love Christin’s comment about making up her own bullshit. I was just thinking while reading your article that an outside observer could easily look at half of what I do and think it’s “bullshit” because it’s value is non-liner, but having the freedom to engage what has heart as an individual, regardless of the immediate results, is something I could never give up. When I see people like you giving of themselves in a community or learning setting, knowing you are not getting technically paid for your time, I think, “there’s somebody who is rich in spirit.” Just the kind of person the world likes to do business with.
Your bs radar is only going to get stronger. 🙌 thanks for publishing a great piece and continuously showing up to run these awesome communities and spread the love! ❤️
I can't even begin to tell you how much I agree with this Michelle! There's a word in spanish, "juntitis" (that might even work in english), for people that love this kind of things, like having a meeting to plan a meeting.
So glad you articulated it perfectly in this article and that you're bringing more light into this kind of "work" that leads absolutely nowhere!
Haha I LOLed through this. I've had only one "job" with a lot of BS, so I'm in luck. But those days in BS jobs are not fun at all. David Graeber has a fun book called BS Jobs and that's smacking right. If he were still alive, he'd want to interview you and write a sequel to it!
"I can’t even imagine what my sister would do if she came home and I was maniacally dialing random numbers on my phone while simultaneously keeping a tally in a notebook."
hahahahahaha
*casually starts dialing numbers*
just for old times sake!
come on, you know that cold calling muscle is beckoning for you to pick up the phone and press some buttons...
This is such a refreshing reflection on the proliferation of BS work in our hustle culture. Productivity for the sake of productivity gives us a short-lived, false sense of satisfaction, which I suspect is a culprit of burnout
1. Happiness that you got out of that world and now spend your time in a way that's meaningful to you
2. Laughing as I think back to the absurdity of activity logging and call volume (and how important it seemed to get it done even though, like you said, we all knew it was a fucking waste of time)
Ugh BS work is so prevalent, especially in sales. The problem is that locations/departments get rated on these metrics and micromanage staff to hit these targets to make them look good. The worst kind of corporate soul sucking!
Although it's even worse when the entire JOB is BS. I love this interview:
“ My pet peeve in the corporate world was doing something for the sake of looking productive, especially because it prevented me from actually being productive.” —— this x100!
Hi Michelle. I did BS work at a major insurance company before going into teaching. Your write-up brought back many memories. I used to work in a call center myself handing auto insurance claims. It wasn’t easy. We didn’t have a call quota like you did in sales, but we did have marks we had to hit with each call. Things like make sure you thank the caller for being a customer or, is there anything else I can do for you? Anyway, that job didn’t give me much satisfaction because any wrong move could get you in trouble. I don’t miss it. It’s good to see you happy in your work. Does it feel like work? Probably not because you’re enjoying it. Great post, enjoy your day. ☺️
Right!? Now I get to make up my own bullshit 😂
When I worked in software, the BS work equivalent would be our daily standups. We all went around and shared what we did the previous day, (even if we only worked for 1hr because the other 6hrs were filled with mandatory meetings). It was the most colossal waste of time ever. Like sorry, I don’t care if you went to this meeting or that meeting yesterday -- it has no impact on my work. And people would try to pad things to look good (plus our team was 14 people), so our meetings would always take unnecessarily long. Not to mention we used a tool that made us present “popcorn style” so we had no choice but to pay attention for the full duration. 🤦♂️
David Graeber is applauding the heck out of you in his grave for this essay. 🫣 What a banger as always. Love the point about how looking productive keeps you from actually being productive.
I love Christin’s comment about making up her own bullshit. I was just thinking while reading your article that an outside observer could easily look at half of what I do and think it’s “bullshit” because it’s value is non-liner, but having the freedom to engage what has heart as an individual, regardless of the immediate results, is something I could never give up. When I see people like you giving of themselves in a community or learning setting, knowing you are not getting technically paid for your time, I think, “there’s somebody who is rich in spirit.” Just the kind of person the world likes to do business with.
Your bs radar is only going to get stronger. 🙌 thanks for publishing a great piece and continuously showing up to run these awesome communities and spread the love! ❤️
I can't even begin to tell you how much I agree with this Michelle! There's a word in spanish, "juntitis" (that might even work in english), for people that love this kind of things, like having a meeting to plan a meeting.
So glad you articulated it perfectly in this article and that you're bringing more light into this kind of "work" that leads absolutely nowhere!
Haha I LOLed through this. I've had only one "job" with a lot of BS, so I'm in luck. But those days in BS jobs are not fun at all. David Graeber has a fun book called BS Jobs and that's smacking right. If he were still alive, he'd want to interview you and write a sequel to it!
"I can’t even imagine what my sister would do if she came home and I was maniacally dialing random numbers on my phone while simultaneously keeping a tally in a notebook."
hahahahahaha
*casually starts dialing numbers*
just for old times sake!
come on, you know that cold calling muscle is beckoning for you to pick up the phone and press some buttons...
This is such a refreshing reflection on the proliferation of BS work in our hustle culture. Productivity for the sake of productivity gives us a short-lived, false sense of satisfaction, which I suspect is a culprit of burnout
Reading this made me smile for 2 reasons:
1. Happiness that you got out of that world and now spend your time in a way that's meaningful to you
2. Laughing as I think back to the absurdity of activity logging and call volume (and how important it seemed to get it done even though, like you said, we all knew it was a fucking waste of time)
I am ready for the robots to take over the BS work. It’s not designed, to your point, for human flourishing in the least.
Ugh BS work is so prevalent, especially in sales. The problem is that locations/departments get rated on these metrics and micromanage staff to hit these targets to make them look good. The worst kind of corporate soul sucking!
Although it's even worse when the entire JOB is BS. I love this interview:
https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/06/29/bullshit-jobs-and-the-yoke-of-managerial-feudalism
Cheers to escaping this 🥂
Hooray for no more BS work!!! Constantly cold-calling sounds so draining.
Soooo happy you're out of there and doing more meaningful work <3
“ My pet peeve in the corporate world was doing something for the sake of looking productive, especially because it prevented me from actually being productive.” —— this x100!
Amen!!!
> My sister and I read books to help us with our storytelling on our podcast.
It shows! I feel the sense that your writing comes alive. The pace and imagery are 🔥 👌
Hi Michelle. I did BS work at a major insurance company before going into teaching. Your write-up brought back many memories. I used to work in a call center myself handing auto insurance claims. It wasn’t easy. We didn’t have a call quota like you did in sales, but we did have marks we had to hit with each call. Things like make sure you thank the caller for being a customer or, is there anything else I can do for you? Anyway, that job didn’t give me much satisfaction because any wrong move could get you in trouble. I don’t miss it. It’s good to see you happy in your work. Does it feel like work? Probably not because you’re enjoying it. Great post, enjoy your day. ☺️