A parody productivity site for a parody economy.

What this is

LookingBusy is a fake-productivity simulator. Pick a persona (CEO, founder, consultant, dog breeder — eight in all and growing), smash some keys, and the dashboard performs a convincing impression of someone in the middle of operational theater: board emails, KPI charts that recalculate themselves into vibes, investor DMs, designer comments, vet appointment conflicts.

When someone walks up, hit \ and the screen flips to a Boss Mode decoy — fake Excel, fake VS Code, fake PowerPoint, fake Figma. Hit M and you’re on a fake Zoom call.

Why it exists

Most fake-productivity sites stop at “look like you’re in a spreadsheet.” That’s the easy part. What’s interesting is the texture of a particular kind of work: the cadence of pings, the conflicting asks, the meeting about the meeting, the customer escalation that arrives at 4:47 PM on a Friday. We modeled that texture for one persona, then we kept going. The engine works for any specific professional world — if you tell us what your job actually feels like, we can probably simulate it.

The modes, today

Each mode has its own message banks, KPI labels, panel headers, recent files, and crises — about 160 unique snippets per mode. Pick one from the dropdown in the header, or open a dedicated landing page:

• Executive Mode
  Vague urgency. Big numbers. Nothing actionable.
• Founder Mode
  Sleep is a cost center. Investors are DMing.
• Consultant Mode
  Frameworks aligning. Synergies stacking. Bill rate climbing.
• Crypto Founder Mode
  Telegram on fire. Audit pending. Discord in revolt.
• VC Associate Mode
  Term sheet expiring. Founder ghosting. Reserve tight.
• Breeder Mode
  Deposits clearing. Mom is restless. Pickup tomorrow.
• PM Mode
  PRD locked. Designer in revolt. North Star drifting.
• Designer Mode
  27 Figma comments. 3 new. Brand refresh due tomorrow.
• Lawyer Mode
  Partner editing your comma. Discovery production due 9 AM.
• Doctor Mode
  Census full. EHR frozen. Cards won't accept.
• HOA Board Mode
  Diane filed something. Of course she did.
• Honors Student Mode
  Tyler ghosted. Sarah is doing the intro by herself.
• Group Chat Admin Mode
  Megan blocked you. Or muted. Or 'limited.' Inconclusive.

Who built it

LookingBusy is a side project from Bob Van Labs. The interactive engine, the per-mode content banks, and the boss-mode decoys are all hand-built. No AI generated the content (it would have been less weird). Suggestions for new modes are welcome — use the “Suggest a Mode” link in the footer of the simulator, or email us directly.

Privacy + analytics

We use cookieless, privacy-friendly analytics (Vercel Web Analytics). No tracking cookies. No GDPR banner needed. The full policy is on the privacy page.

Contact

Suggestions, bug reports, mode requests, or just to say hi: [email protected]