Elsewhere, you said “if I know I won’t accomplish anything else, I just go home.” What’s the difference between this and surfing the web? The “lie?” I think folks just don’t want their boss to be confronted by the lack of productivity in that moment. Being at home accomplishes the same thing. But I don’t want to go home, because I’m getting back to work in 10 minutes. And, for that matter, I’m probably putting in some time at home, because I like what I do.
Many managers don’t understand creative work because they can do 70 hrs / week answering emails. Some folks don’t have the option of going home early. Some folks are semi-on-call even though their day-to-day is more as a “solve novel problems” kind of gig.
Calling these kinds of activities lies or fraud really pisses me off, actually. You’re being paid to be a technical creative professional. The optimally productive year looks different for different personalities.
Personally, I oscillate. I tend to have an incredibly strong couple of weeks followed by a week of low productivity. Some people thrive on consistency. I do better when I can get my brain into a semi-manic hyperfocus where my task at hand is literally the only thing I’m thinking about 24/7. That also works nicely when we have an upcoming client engagement, because I’ve learned how to trigger that mentality. That’s not sustainable though. So for other weeks I want to be plugged into the workplace but don’t necessarily expect myself to be ON to the same degree. Surfing on HN or whatever gives me creative juice for the next up-week.
I’m lucky enough to have a boss who understands this dynamic. Even folks that understand themselves well enough to be great in their jobs might still have managers who don’t get it, and punish those downcycles. If the job is otherwise great, that would be a reason to tell that “lie” that, like many white lies, is primarily a social lubricant.