Found the word for the work that most people do in office.

It looks like work but isn’t. A kind of busyness that fills calendars, consumes energy, and creates the illusion of progress.

It’s called “spuddling”.

In the 17th century, “spuddle” described the act of being frantically busy while achieving nothing of value. A term forgotten in language but alive and thriving in offices, meetings, and bureaucracies worldwide.

Spuddlers are always in motion - drafting reports no one reads, attending meetings that solve nothing, forwarding emails as if momentum equals meaning. They measure effort instead of impact.

But here’s the real problem: They get rewarded for it.

In many workplaces, visibility trumps results. The one who appears busiest - who stays late, sends late-night emails, and always seems overwhelmed - is celebrated. Meanwhile, the quiet high-performers who actually move the needle? Often overlooked.

The solution isn’t to do more. It’s to do better.

What if we stopped measuring work by time spent and started measuring it by value created? What if we rewarded clarity over chaos, results over rituals, and real progress over performative busyness?

Because in a world full of spuddlers, the rarest skill is focus.