March 30, 2025 at 11:15 am

Employee Is Told To Make A List Of Every Single Thing He Does During The Work Day, But Their Very Detailed List Wasn’t Appreciated Either

by Jayne Elliott

Reddit/Shutterstock

Sometimes bosses make rules without really thinking them through.

Other times bosses make rules that are too vague or open to interpretation enough that malicious compliance is the only way to point out the problem.

In today’s story, one apprentice makes it clear that a new rule is a bad idea, at least, the way it’s worded makes it a bad idea.

Let’s see how the story plays out.

You want to know what I’m doing?

So this recent mail sent out to US government employees sent me on a trip down memory lane.

Back in 2000, I was in an apprenticeship, which in my country lasts 2.5 to 3 years.

About a year in, I got overwhelmed since all of my coworkers dropped work on me.

There are two new rules.

My boss then put in two rules:

1. everything had to go through my instructor before I did anything.

2. I had to compile a list what I did every day and how long it took me.

This employee took the second rule literally.

While I enjoyed #1, I thought #2 was a bit too much. So I asked if they really meant everything I did.

My boss said yes.

So the first mail she got, looked like this:

Turning on lights – 3 minutes

starting computer – 1 minute

turning on printer and other machines – 2 minutes

preparing coffee maker – 3 minutes

walking between offices in total – 10 minutes
etc.

That changed quickly!

Every single thing I did, except the bathroom breaks were listed.

And the last was how long it took to write the mail.

The next day, she asked me to limit it to the most important tasks.

Which I had to do for the rest of my time there, even after the boss changed.

But they also made sure to give me exact instruction, because when they didn’t, well…

People can get petty when the instructions aren’t clear. Well played!

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person was even more specific.