Everyone’s Busy, But Literally Nothing Is Getting Done The Great Workplace Mystery, Solved (Kinda)

The Self Care Network
May 17
4 min read

Hi, it’s Jenora 👋 Your favorite systems-minded consultant here to gently call out the chaos (and help you clean it up).

Let’s be real: I’ve sat in the meetings. I’ve read the strategy decks. I’ve watched incredibly smart teams burn themselves out while barely moving the needle. Not because they don’t care—but because the systems they’re working in are more tangled than a charger in the bottom of your tote bag.

This week, we’re diving into one of the most relatable workplace conspiracies of our time: 👉 Everyone’s busy, but somehow... nothing’s getting done.

Is it burnout? Is it bad process? Is it a calendar demon haunting your Google Meet invites?

Spoiler: It’s the system. And I’ve got thoughts.

Let’s get into it 👇

In today’s top workplace drama, scientists, therapists, and that one guy in your Slack who replies with “per my last email” have all confirmed it: everyone’s busy, but somehow, absolutely nothing is getting done. In related news, coffee consumption is at an all-time high, and printers everywhere are still not working.

Yes, it seems we’ve reached Peak Burnout, not because your team is lazy or allergic to productivity (although Becky has been “working on that one spreadsheet” since Q3 last year). The culprit, dear reader, is not people, it’s the system.

And we don’t mean “the system” like some vague Illuminati pyramid scheme. We’re talking about broken workflows, misaligned priorities, and calendar invites that spawn like gremlins.

The Symptoms: Chaos in Corporate Land

You know the signs:

Your team is in back-to-back Zoom calls all day, yet no one remembers what any of them were about.
Deadlines are flying by like comets while actual deliverables sit untouched, like that lonely banana in the office fruit basket.
Everyone’s juggling twelve “top priorities” while also attending three brainstorming sessions that could have been emails.
The team’s Slack has devolved into a confusing mix of frantic pings, memes, and someone asking “Can someone check the doc?” every 8 minutes.

It’s like a hamster wheel powered by anxiety and cold brew. And folks are TIRED.

Burnout: Not a You Problem, It’s a System Problem

Contrary to popular belief (and that one guy who swears by his 5AM routine and 14 Chrome tabs), burnout isn’t just about working too much. It’s about working without clarity, purpose, or boundaries a.k.a. the productivity Bermuda Triangle.

In this chaotic realm:

Tasks aren’t prioritized they’re just thrown into the abyss.
Roles are fuzzy, so people duplicate work or worse, no one does it at all.
Communication? Less like a well-oiled machine, more like a game of broken telephone played underwater.

As it turns out, people don’t need more hustle. They need structure that doesn’t suck.

👀 From the Consultant’s Notebook: “The Update That Wasn’t”

Now listen, I’ve been behind the scenes. I’ve sat in the calls, read the Notion docs, and reviewed the post-mortems where everyone’s politely pretending they “learned a lot.”

Let me tell you about the time I joined a project status meeting for a team of absolute rockstars, smart, dedicated, genuinely trying their best. They’d been working on this high-stakes initiative for weeks. Stakeholders were circling like hungry pigeons. Everyone was asking for “an update.”

So, I log in, expecting action items. Progress. Maybe even a decision.

Instead... we spent 47 minutes recapping things they already knew, making “gut check” comments on copy that hadn’t changed since last Tuesday, and trying to remember who was owning the timeline.

And at the end, the project lead (a wonderful human on the brink of becoming a sentient Slack notification) said:

“Okay, great sync! Let’s just regroup early next week and see where we’re at.”

Regroup? You mean regroup to regroup... the regroup?

That’s when it hit me like a Google Sheet with 18 conflicting tabs: it’s not a team issue, it’s a systems issue.

There was no structure to drive clarity. No decision-making rhythm. No real sense of “done.” Just motion. And a low-key existential spiral happening behind everyone’s cameras.

So... What Do We DO About It?

We got you, team lead who just screamed into their coffee cup. Here’s your Burnout Buster Starter Pack:

Kill the Fake Urgency Just because something has a red flag in the project board doesn’t mean it’s a code red. Use actual prioritization—triage like a pro!
Give Projects a Clear Owner If it’s everyone’s job, it’s no one’s job. Assign ownership like Oprah gives out cars. “YOU get this task!”
Calendars Need Boundaries, Too Normalize focus time. Schedule it. Protect it. Worship it like a sacred productivity temple.
Define “Done” Everyone has a different idea of what “done” means. For one person, it’s a 3-page report. For another, it’s “I thought about it in the shower.” Align on definitions, people.
Stop Saying Yes to Everything Be the brave soul who says, “Do we actually need this meeting?” You might be met with gasps, but you’ll be a legend.

In Conclusion: We’re All Running, But Where Are We Going?

At the end of the day, your team isn’t lazy. They’re just stuck in a spaghetti bowl of unclear processes, blurry expectations, and way too many Trello boards.

The fix? Be less like a hamster wheel, more like a laser beam. Direct. Focused. And not trapped in a loop.

Because hey everyone’s busy, but wouldn’t it be nice if something actually got finished?

Now, go forth and de-burnout your team. Maybe even finish that spreadsheet Becky’s been “working on” since 2023. (We believe in you, Becky. Kinda.)

For more productivity truths, sarcastic wisdom, and systems that don’t suck, stay tuned to our next report: “Meetings About Meetings: How We Lost 2 Days and Our Will to Live.”