Employee discovers coworker is booking fake meetings with himself for quiet work time, debates telling boss: ‘I can't decide if this is genius or insane’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Sep 29, 2026 7:15 AM EDT

You are a hardworking employee only if your calendar is fully booked…

Every workplace has that false notion that employees must busy themselves with countless meetings every single week. We go from meeting to meeting, talking about the same things and moving at a glacial pace, just because the corporate world has decided that's what productivity looks like. In reality, however, the real work gets done when employees get a chance to quietly sit at their desks and simply do their jobs uninterrupted. They don't need to have another meeting with the client, they need time to actually work on all the things they discussed in the last meeting, and the one before that…

We never thought we would reach the point where employees would lie their way into being allowed to work, but here we are. As it turns out, some employees have to get creative so they can be granted some quiet time to work. It's no longer enough to put on your earphones and sit at your desk, nothing is stopping your coworkers from interrupting you. And if you try to find an empty room at the office to hide in, all your boss needs to do is look at your public calendar to know that you have "nothing" going on.

This led one clever employee to start scheduling fake meetings with fake clients so he could actually have uninterrupted work time. Anyone who looks at his calendar will see that he is booked and busy, when in reality, he is simply working on tasks he would have no time to complete otherwise.

When one of his coworkers discovered this scheme, they were impressed by this employee's plan. However, when the boss started to ask about this mysterious client the employee kept meeting with, this genius arrangement was suddenly at risk of completely falling apart. The only question is, will the coworker cover for the clever employee, or will they expose his lie?

Advertisement
  • Relaxed employee sitting alone in his office.
    via Getty Images

    Relaxed employee sitting alone in his office.

    Picture does not depict real parties.

  • My coworker has been booking fake meetings with himself for months

    A guy on my team blocks out 2 to 4 every afternoon with things like "vendor sync" and "client review." I never thought about it until
    via pathetic_lineage
  • yesterday when I asked if he could move one and he laughed and told me none of them are real. He said if he puts "focus time" people book
    via pathetic_lineage
  • over it so he started giving the blocks boring meeting names and nobody bothers him. I was on lunch playing Minecraft when he sent me
    via pathetic_lineage
  • screenshots of his calendar and there are fake meetings going back months.
    via pathetic_lineage
  • The problem is our manager asked me this morning if I know what client he keeps meeting with because she wants to sit in next week. I
    via pathetic_lineage
  • said I had no idea. Now he is messaging me saying please do not expose his system because it is the only way he gets uninterrupted work done.
    via pathetic_lineage
  • I cannot decide if this is genius or completely insane.
    via pathetic_lineage
  • Man sitting alone at a desk, working.
    via LinkedIn Sales Solutions

    Man sitting alone at a desk, working.

    Stock photo unrelated.

  • Sharp_Measurement971 He's using it to work and so people don't bother him....whats wrong with that?
    via Sharp_Measurement971
  • mokicoo It's genius. Don't rat him out. Edited to add my reason: Guy isn't using it to go visit clubs. He's using it because people aren't respecting his work boundaries. If he can speak to it, he's golden.
    via mokicoo
  • principium_est Warn him
    via principium_est
  • Trailer_Park_Stink Just mind your own business and not rat him out. You dont know anything
    via Trailer_Park_Stink
  • Enigma1984 Sounds good to me, it's quite easy to lose control of your calendar if you don't do something like this. Having fake vendor calls is a bit risky, but as long as you have an answer to that question I guess it's fine.
    via Enigma1984
  • ragefulhorse You said you don't know. Leave it at that. You don't have to elaborate.
    via ragefulhorse
  • Ok-Freedom-7432 What's the upside of exposing him? Just let your boss and him work it out.
    via Ok-Freedom-7432

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

boss business meeting employee manager meeting coworkers clever workplace company funny
Scroll Down For The Next Article