Busy work

People may engage in busy work to maintain an appearance of activity, in order to avoid criticism of being inactive or idle.

In business and work settings, people may engage in busy work to maintain an appearance of activity to protect their employment status (to avoid termination or sanctions).

Constant urgency in workers can lead to disproportionate distribution of actual work, as workers may put off important work by attempting to complete previously designated less important tasks.

[1] That can also lead to workers taking shortcuts to accomplish tasks more quickly, which can negatively affect the quality of work results.

[2] The assumption that activity in the workplace is more important than productivity in the workplace can lead to employees thinking that quantity of work is better than quality of work, which is not productive to the overall functioning of a business.

Chores such as mopping outdoors can be busy work.
The constant processing of paperwork can be a form of busy work, particularly in situations when it is a lower priority compared to other tasks.