Look Busy

Appearances can be deceiving, at work and in worship.

People who work in offices usually don’t have too much trouble looking busy. Some corporate bigwig shows up or the boss is spotted coming down the hall, and you sit erect and tap furiously on the keyboard, appearing that you are productive and engaged. You are on it. You are totally the candidate for “Employee of the Month,” if not the year.

Even when you are so tired that you can’t keep your head up and you’re caught napping on the job, head on the desk, hands hanging down past your knees, drool staining a client’s 401(k) docs, you can still explain that you weren’t really sleeping. You were simply brainstorming with your eyes closed.

If you are among the fortunate ones who can work from home, you have it much easier. If you want to look busy when you aren’t, you can use a “mouse jiggler.” Since many employers — suspicious by nature — use productivity monitoring software like ActivTrak to monitor employee...