There’s a relatively new term circulating in the working world: productivity paranoia. First coined by Microsoft in 2022, it’s a term that refers to the concern among managers that employees aren’t being productive enough when working remotely. As a result, most of the advice out there on how to reduce productivity paranoia is aimed at managers, but misses the fact that remote employees feel pressured to prove they’re being productive. That pressure can lead to employees choosing not to take breaks or spending time worrying that their superiors don’t know how much they’re really getting done. If you’re an employee who feels stressed about whether your boss recognizes your hard work, or perhaps experiencing some productivity paranoia, this is for you.

According to Microsoft, 85% of workplace executives surveyed said the shift to hybrid work has made it harder to ensure employees are being productive. Productivity paranoia is “where executives fear that productivity losses are due to employees not working, even though hours worked, meetings, and other activity metrics have increased.”

Tips for managers typically suggest building trust within teams and verifying employee output to overcome this paranoia, but this doesn’t leave much room for what employees can do themselves to curb their own paranoia about their bosses’ paranoia. It’s a lot of paranoia all around, honestly, even though research has shown that working from home can actually increase productivity — and all that paranoia can actually be bad for productivity!

“When employees worry about how productive they appear, it can lead to burnout or disinterest in the work they’re doing,” says Michelle Reisdorf, district president at global HR consulting firm Robert Half. “Not only can the work suffer, but it can also have a negative impact on the morale of the office or the team.”