“When you look annoyed all the time, people think that you’re busy.” – George Costanza
During my last couple of years of college, I had a part-time job managing security for events for my alma mater’s domed football stadium. When events were in full swing, it was hectic and at times chaotic, about what you’d expect for an athletic venue. Fans will be fans, after all.
Once things slowed down, a sense of normalcy settled over the stadium. We’d catch up on facility maintenance, plan for upcoming events, and catch our breath.
On one particular winter afternoon, I was looking for Ed, the maintenance supervisor, and not finding him. I checked every room in the entire facility before ending up in the HVAC room where we stored the massive filters for the stadium’s air handlers. Although the room was empty, I could swear I heard snoring from inside the filter boxes, which were stacked about ten feet high along one wall. As I moved closer, one of the boxes moved and Ed stepped out, stretching. Within the boxes, he’d carved out a hidden room, complete with a cot, small television, and refrigerator.
“I’ve been looking for you for an hour,” I muttered.
Ed just smirked. “If people can’t find you, they assume that you’re busy somewhere.”
George Gets Annoyed
I’d completely forgotten about that moment until the memories came one night while watching Seinfeld. In the episode, “The Hot Tub,” George Costanza – whose character was renowned for his laziness – describes how he avoids work in his role for the New York Yankees. “I always look annoyed,” he says. “When you look annoyed all the time, people think that you’re busy.”
Throughout the series, George presented a MasterClass on how to avoid work while appearing busy. Over the course of 172 episodes across 10 seasons, fans could always count on George to find some innovative way to avoid work. “The Costanza Method” became a euphemism for the staff officer who scurried around and produced little, or the commander who made a lot of noise but accomplished nothing. And, from time to time, we’d just label the industrious lazy person as “George.”
In fact, The Constanza Method became so well-known that even a cursory search of the internet can find lengthy discussions of George’s bizarre work ethic. During the series, he was a real estate agent, a parking attendant, a salesman, and an assistant within the New York Yankees, while also claiming to be an architect and a marine biologist. When he wasn’t unemployed, which seemed to be more often than not.
If George wore a cape, his superpower would be creating the illusion of work.
Task Masking
It’s been almost thirty years since “The Hot Tub” episode aired. Long enough that the reference is lost on an entire generation. Or so I thought until a couple of weeks ago, when I read an article in Forbes on “task masking.” That article was soon followed by an Entrepreneur story and a piece on the CBS affiliate in Raleigh.
It only took a few minutes of reading to recognize task masking – the latest TikTok viral trend – for what it was: The Costanza Method. “Simply put,” Bryan Robinson wrote in Forbes, “Task Masking entails office workers openly exaggerating that they’re working hard in the office and going overboard with performative tasks to give the illusion they’re being productive.”
The advice offered to fellow TikTokers ranged from “type furiously and loud” to “make frustrated noises” and “walk through the office quickly with your cell phone to your ear.” Whatever it takes to convince others that you’re busy and annoyed. Classic George Costanza. And, while much of the trend was attributed to an increasingly frustrated Gen Z workforce, this has always been part of the work experience: no matter where you work, someone is always trying to get over on the boss.
As a result, no one is actually fooled by The Costanza Method. We recognize it for what it is. People are far more likely to think you have a behavioral issue than actually busy. We know what busy looks like, and it’s not “serious facial expressions” or “moving your mouse around” while staring at a blank screen. You’re either productive or you’re not, and there’s no illusion that will disguise a genuine absence of work ethic.
If you really want people to think you’re busy, you might be better off hiding in the HVAC room. Ed might have actually been onto something.
