Is everyone else pretending they’re drowning in work?

[Shareadog]

I’ve worked in office jobs for about 25 years, and I’ve always wondered: do people in self-directed, knowledge-based roles actually spend 37-40 hours a week actively working?

I almost never have, the only exceptions have been during major pitches. However, I’ve consistently received strong reviews and positive feedback. I was promoted last year.

In my current, fairly senior role, I’m regularly praised for both the quality and speed of my work and I definitely don’t avoid taking on extra work or projects. Maybe I’ve just been unusually lucky with manageable workloads, but after this many years that seems unlikely.

I’m not off doing anything exciting—I’m available and responsive—but there are decent stretches when I just don’t have much to do.

Everyone else around me constantly complains they’re drowning, overworked etc.

Am I the weird one, or is everyone else stretching the truth about how busy they are in these type of senior roles?

I don't really see how anyone can answer this for you?

Only the people around you will know if they're stretching the truth.

I have worked in quite a few different places.

in my experiences there are two types of roles:

insanely busy high wirkload
slower roles where the expectation is that you manage yourself to some extent.

i really struggled with the slower roles and moved into an insanely busy one (teaching)

My workload would be manageable if I had less meetings (although those are also an inherent part of my role). It’s not unusual for me to have meetings straight through from 9-5, no break for lunch and the quick chance for a loo break if something finishes early. So I get to the end of the day and I have an inbox full of emails, various documents from my team to review, reports/briefings to write. Without the meetings, I’d be doing all that in the course of the day.

Another one!
Yes, there are plenty of people drowning on rather unmanageable workloads, at times. Reason: many companies are reducing their headcount, they chuck the tasks of the positions lost on top of the normal workload of others. Then they have a large % of the workforce working from home, so any little or huge actual physical issue happening falls on the hands of whoever is at the workplace. Management is completely aloof, on purpose because they are the ones that work from home.
The only way to find out if this happens around you is to be there, to see it with your very eyes.

No idea. I'm part-time but always extremely busy every hour of my working day. I'm leaving and they've brought in 5 full-time people to replace me. Makes me realise I could have at least been paid for a full-time role all these years. They all are extremely busy doing a tiny part of my job. But they're all very inefficient in the way they work. I suspect you are very efficient and have good processes that keep on top of everything and don't realise it? I work, have 3 kids and a tidy and clean home because i'm systematic and make sure my husband and kids are responsible from a young age too. I suspect lots just never really get these systems in place at work or home. Looking back, I was super slow and inefficient at home and work until I had kids.

Depends on the sector/role you work in? I'm a teacher and yes am drowning in work but it ebbs and flows over the academic year. An afternoons PPA is nowhere near enough to plan lessons and do all the shitty admin jobs. Some things just don't get done.

I was only drowning when I had a pants manager whose job I was doing on top of my own... Well most of it, he did the praise taking part.

I am quite good as not attending or putting in pointless meetings!

I am super efficient @Nottoobadreally I guess, always have been. I don’t get how some parents say they have no time to themselves, when as a single parent I seem to always have plenty of it!

Without being outing, my role is in a marketing type of capacity. And I’m senior but just below the SLT (which I don’t want to get in to!)

I know you don’t personally know my co-workers @IPM. My question was clearly stated as a more general, is this something people do in these type of jobs.

Hell yeah. I always complain about drowning in work, even if I am having regular afternoon naps.

I am overqualified for my role so I can do the work to a high standard in far less time than it takes my peers.

Why shouldn’t I capitalise on that? The employer wouldn’t get any more/improved output from anyone else.

I’ve found I’ve taken to saying, ‘god really busy but fine’ when people ask how I am. Just to fit in!

Oh, just seen some teachers are posting. Yes, when I was teaching I was absolutely drowning in work. I was HOD and the stress and workload nearly killed me.

I work in the public sector and I’m drowning in work. Year on year people leaving and not being replaced will do that.
Maybe your colleagues are drowning in work because you’re slacking?

I did specify office jobs. I understand some roles, like teaching, are a different kettle of fish

I wasn’t always drowning - typically in August I would have a relatively quiet time when I could finally get on with the long term stuff that didn’t have an immediate deadline. I sulked one year when they decided to do a reorg during August and it made the following year much harder

It doesn’t work like that. I have my own clients and my own workload. Although I willing help others out if needed, we all manage our own workloads. I’m certainly not leaving others to struggle whilst I nap.

Back in the day when there were adequate staffing levels you could get your job done without feeling overwhelmed. My first job was busy at times and a little more relaxed at others (I worked in publishing and deadlines ruled), but that didn’t mean I didn’t have anything to do, just not the pressure of needing to get it done in the next five minutes or else. Now that role has absorbed the work of another person who was never replaced so there’s fairly high pressured tasks at a more constant rate.
You may be very efficient at your job. And lucky that your job is not giving you more tasks than you can cope with. But yes I imagine there’s also a certain amount of ‘must look busy even if I’m just checking the football scores’, and of course who’s going to admit that their job is L, if not exactly easy, at least not stressful? That’s a sure way of getting more work handed to you! Plus people seem to equate being stressed out and super busy as some sort of badge of honour. And maybe they are just not great at their job!

I think most of us are not particularly efficient, but like to 'feel' busy. I'm a terrible procrastinator, so am always surprised by how much work I can get done when I'm properly focussed. Maybe you are a rare focussed person?

I work in cybersecurity which is always seen as non-revenue generating/cost to the business so we are skeleton staffing at all points. No amount of explaining/re-phrasing/visuals/impact statements…. Seems to get the message through that without us we’d be losing customers left right and centre, paying fines, paying compensation and we wouldn’t win new bids as we wouldn’t hold the required certification, but anyway.

No, never have to lie about being busy, at any given moment I’m coordinating and participating in 2 audits, handling breach investigations/security threats, managing a team of 10 people and the cyber posture of 10,000 globally and a couple of hundred thousand assets, approving and contributing to InfoSec and compliance policies, responding to RFPs or client due diligence requests, writing up board/SLT reports, attending up to 6 hrs meetings a day, contributing to technology projects, leading cyber innovation projects and just dealing with general firefighting.

Its varied, interesting, well paid, 100% remote and I have complete flexibility over my hours so it has its benefits but downtime isn’t one of them.

I may have to find myself an office job, for the sound of it!

But, if you do manage others and you do hear from them that they are really busy, this of assuming they are pretending is disgusting. And it is the manager's role to implement processes that make the workplace efficient and manageable.
And if you work from home, you need to take into account that those at the workplace have to deal with parcels dumped on their door, delivered to the wrong address, favours from X,Y and Z that are not in the office, but need something done. And so on! And on!

I’m exactly the same. I’m trying to decline more to free time up

I was in a local government job where the employer was cutting costs, not replacing staff. So those of us who were employed were expected to do more with less. My strategy was to slow down, stretch the work out, and let the less essential things pile up. I did this over the course of a year. Of course my boss noticed but I had already planned my exit. I enjoyed my final 121 appraisal where he told me I had lost my mojo and I agreed. Not a lot he could do. I resigned 4 weeks later.

Education and government based roles seem to have something in common, for the look of it!

Sometimes it's how my job feels rather than how it actually is. It's not just about workload and output, it's about headspace, the weight of responsibility, job security or lack of, pressure, relationships, politics going on. That can make me feel overwhelmed more than actually having a lot to do.

As someone who is insanely busy I find it really annoying when people tell me they're busy when I know they aren't!

I think a lot of people are "busy workers" and find ways to waste their (and everyone else's) time. They're the same people who add 20 people in cc on every email and organise meetings about things that could be solved in a 5 minute phone call.

There are also a lot of terrible managers who can't seem to set their teams up in a way to be autonomous / productive and end up helicoptering over everything.

Anyway, rant over!