Help ... too many TPS reports!!!

[albireo13]

More and more of my work time at my job with MegaCorp is being consumed by tasks like managing "TPS reports". It's mind numbing.

It makes it hard to come to work each day, dealing with the drudgery.

It's not that hard to do the work. It's just useless.
I just tell myself they are paying me good money to do this.

Still .. some days I just want to give my notice and retire.

I hope I can keep my sanity another 3 years or so before I retire.

Anyone else at this stage??

 

[Sojourner]

I got to a similar stage several years ago, and it was pretty tough trudging into the office every morning in the final few years leading up to leaving the job and joining the ranks of the semi-retired.

I knew I was FI, so that helped because I just did the minimum needed to get my work done and was mentally focused on other, more interesting things. But at the same time, it was pretty annoying dealing with all that "TPS report" kind of stuff, because I knew I was already in a position not to have to put up with those kinds of annoyances.

My only suggestion would be to focus on the good stuff in your office and spend as little time and energy as possible on the negative, annoying stuff. Constantly remind yourself this is a short term situation and just take it as it comes, one day at a time, with as positive an attitude as you can muster.

 

[greengo523]

I am exactly at the same stage. My job has become a quagmire of paperwork and I'm also hoping to hang on for about 3 more years before I retire.

 

[courtjustshan]

I am in this position as well. Fortunately, I am able to work from home most of the time, which helps.

 

[ShortInSeattle]

For whatever reason, as your FIRE date gets closer, staying put seems to get more difficult. Human psychology is interesting.

So no, you're not unusual in that regard. If you can, look for some ways to find meaning in your work as you approach the finish line. Mentor a younger person, or take on a riskier project, or... ??

If all goes well this will be a very temporary problem. ?

 

[jazz4cash]

Definitely went through this for last 5yrs before retiring st Megacorp. It just got worse and worse. Multiple overlapping reports that were absurd. We had two inventory reports to submit and my boss told us we could quit doing one of them. Turns out he forgot to submit one quarter and decided to wait for a request. Request never came. He waited a year before telling us to quit doing them. The crazy paperwork was interfering with the real work. I suspect many colleagues were faking the info. I'm pretty sure I destroyed some brain cells doing that crap. I wish I could've been better at letting things roll off my back. I quit because I didn't want to be that guy going around with a chip on my shoulder. Once I had a definite date targeted to ER, it got easier to put up with the nonsense.

 

[JustCurious]

For whatever reason, as your FIRE date gets closer, staying put seems to get more difficult. Human psychology is interesting.

It seems this can go both ways... some people find it more difficult to deal with the BS bucket as the FIRE date approaches, whereas other people seem to reach the point where the BS doesn't bother them anymore because they know they can walk away anytime and they just let it roll off their back.

 

[JoeWras]

It seems this can go both ways... some people find it more difficult to deal with the BS bucket as the FIRE date approaches, whereas other people seem to reach the point where the BS doesn't bother them anymore because they know they can walk away anytime and they just let it roll off their back.

I have good and bad days. But man, the TPS reports problem can crush your spirit. I know exactly what OP is talking about.

 

[albireo13]

I'm finding it very hard to invest in anything at work other than basic requirements.
I just do not want to waste any of my energy on it anymore.

 

[aja8888]

What is a TPS report?

 

[euro]

What is a TPS report?

I have no idea either! Some folks are so entrenched in their world they don't realize that not everyone is familiar with their lingo. The other day, there was a thread where some vidogame programmer used a seven-digit acronym like MRSPORD or something WTF?

 

[JustCurious]

What is a TPS report?

 

[PatrickA5]

Many TPS reports in my career!

My favorite was the "budget vs actual comparison report" where I had to come up with a reason why actual expense varied from budget. One time it was very obvious that whomever prepared the budget had no clue what they were doing, so I put in a explanation that the "budget was wrong". OMG, you'd think I committed some crime or something. My boss (and his boss) both came back and told me that we couldn't just say the budget was wrong and to make up some other reason. Found out later, the VP's pretty girlfriend did the budget.

 

[JoeWras]

Patrick has it right. A TPS report is not an exact thing. It fits any profession. It is generally useless drivel demanded to you by an unseen "higher up" that your direct manager beats out of you.

This is well played in "Office Space," where the name came from. In the movie,
we never know what a TPS report is technically, but spiritually, we know. Boy do we know.

 

[aja8888]

Starting threads using acronyms that many people don't have a clue what it stands for is my PET PEEVE of the day!

 

[JoeWras]

Starting threads using acronyms that many people don't have a clue what it stands for is my PET PEEVE of the day!

But that's the whole point!

Most of the time, those of us writing TPS reports don't even know what they are or what they stand for.

 

[aja8888]

But that's the whole point!

Most of the time, those of us writing TPS reports don't even know what they are or what they stand for.

Now that I think about this, once upon a time, I may have written some too!!

 

[dirt_dobber]

one of my favorite gags when encountering new "fresh out of college" kids that my employer would hire - would be to approach them at the end of their 1st week and ask if they had finished their "TPS reports" - had over 80% reply "wow I didn't know that was a real thing"

 

[JoeWras]

one of my favorite gags when encountering new "fresh out of college" kids that my employer would hire - would be to approach them at the end of their 1st week and ask if they had finished their "TPS reports" - had over 80% reply "wow I didn't know that was a real thing"

That's awesome!

 

[Amethyst]

Even though I worked in government, there weren't that many TPS-type things. Some things felt TPS-ish, but I understood the reasons behind them so it didn't seem so onerous.

Now, OTOH...whenever I hear "strategy" or "planning" I feel relieved that I am no longer on the hook for enormous, complex, committee-driven plans, that go through many levels of stern review and then get shelved. In my part-time job, I am not allowed to get involved in such things

 

[FiveDriver]

During my career, I often used the Corporate Random Buzzword Generator for my TPS Reports. This was especially helpful in creating the Executive Summary section, and again in the Conclusion section.....
buzz word generator and corporate buzz word bingo

The rest of the TPS Report was filled out using the Corporate Random Numbers Generator and the Corporate Random Graph Generator.

 

[Zorba]

I once made a list of all the three letter acronyms that I was required to know for reports and in interactions with other managers. When I filled one page with two columns, I stopped writing. It wasn't long after this that I stepped out of management.

 

[GravitySucks]

At one job I had to file 7 separate monthly reports. (Copy a form, fill it out in pen, mail it off to HQ.) All with similar info. after about six months I stopped sending them in and two months later got a call asking for one of the reports. The other six used to be thrown in the trash.

 

[JoeWras]

Here's the real kick. Today, they ask for these reports, but when anything happens, an email goes out, or an instant message, or chat or whatever yelling: "Give me an answer!"

The report is never looked at.

Mike Judge got the TPS report thing SO RIGHT. Even more subtly, it wasn't the report, it was the format of the stupid cover sheet. So true.

I think it has been going on since the Egyptians were building pyramids. Poor supervisors. Those guys had to chisel their reports in stone in hieroglyphics. I'm not joking! The archaeologists have found these TPS reports.

 

[CoolRich59]

This was one of the reasons I left my megacorp job and became a consultant.

While I am still anxiously my retirement date, I am really -- REALLY -- glad I don't have to prepare those weekly reports that only seemed to help those a$$kissing sycophants who used them to embellish their "achievements", and gave mgmt a weapon to second guess those of us trying to get some work done.

Another thing I really enjoy not doing is the annual review/goals nonsense with the required quarterly "progress" updates. I spent as little time as possible completing these forms (I would save my responses in a Word doc and cut/paste them into the forms each year. No one even noticed. ).

In fact, so long as I submitted the forms on time, I never heard anything except for a 2-minute meeting with my manager at the end of the year. (You know, the one where they give you the bs reason why your increase is so paltry despite megacorp's record profits.) But, miss a deadline for submitting one of those worthless forms and you get reminders by three levels of management.