In some emergency situations, you may have to give boss an impression that you are really working to resolve the crisis. Tricks of the trade has a very practical advice for Sysadmins and computer technicians whose job is to monitor the computer network in the company:
If you work in a big infrastructure with tons of routers, servers and the rest, you can usually tell how the whole operation is running right from your own desk, since your computer will have the proper tools for monitoring. But management doesn't always understand this -- if there's a problem, they may perceive you as just sitting around idly, even while you are saving the day.Source: Tricks of the Trade: IT
So, at the first sign of trouble, abandon your perfectly functioning computer, go down to the computer room / engine room / nuclear reactor, and continue your work down there. Most of the time the issue will solve itself, but people will assume that, by moving, you were actively engaging the problem and have a second set of mystical tools at your disposal in the event of an emergency.
