Productivity theater is as old as work itself. I’ve long disliked those who do this as they're often loud and obnoxious, and step on everyone else’s toes. You turned your 10 minute slideshow into 30 minutes of rambling during a tightly segmented meeting? Good job, jerk.

On the flip side, I hate having a low workload. My happiest days are when I start at a new company and huddle down, ingesting everything I can and fixing what is broken. Once that’s all done, and all that’s left if maintenance, I get bored and worry about how much I’m now worth to the company. That’s brings a lot of unhappiness.