From Busyness to Real Productivity: Managing Workload
Some people are genuinely juggling a lot. Others have (sometimes unintentionally) mastered the art of looking busy as a way to control expectations.
Over time, this shapes how work gets distributed and who ends up carrying the extra load. Let’s explore a better solution to this phenomenon.
The impact of "looking busy" on teams
We’ve all worked with someone who always seems overwhelmed—delayed responses, sighs in meetings, and reminders of just how much they have on their plate.
When someone consistently signals that they’re swamped, teammates and managers start to adjust. They stop expecting quick turnarounds, redirect urgent tasks elsewhere, and mentally write off that person as unavailable. Meanwhile, the people seen as more responsive often get more of the immediate work, sometimes to the point of burnout.
This pattern isn’t just about individual habits—it affects team dynamics, productivity, and morale. If work is assigned based on who seems available rather than actual workload, it creates an imbalance that can lead to frustration and inefficiency.
Why does this happen?
A few psychological factors explain why "looking busy" works:
Expectation management: Self-fulfilling prophecy & availability heuristic
- When someone constantly signals that they are overloaded, colleagues and managers start to expect that they are always at capacity. This is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Others begin to assume the person is genuinely too busy and avoid assigning them additional tasks.
- The availability heuristic also plays a role. If people frequently see someone appearing overwhelmed, they recall that image when thinking about workload distribution, reinforcing the belief that this person is always busy.
Work redistribution: Decision fatigue & social loafing
- Tasks often shift to those who are perceived as responsive or willing to take on more. This can be partially explained by decision fatigue. When managers or colleagues are mentally exhausted, they take the path of least resistance and assign tasks to those who seem easiest to approach.
- Social loafing plays a role as well, where people in group settings tend to offload tasks onto those they perceive as more responsible or engaged, especially when accountability is unevenly distributed.
Cultural reinforcement: Impression management & symbolic work
- Many workplace cultures equate busyness with productivity, leading employees to engage in impression management, a strategy where they consciously curate their behaviors to align with what is valued in their work environment.
- This can lead to symbolic work, where people prioritize looking busy (e.g., sending emails at odd hours, rushing between meetings) rather than actually being productive, because they know perception matters as much as actual output.
Creating a culture that focuses on real work
Instead of rewarding the appearance of being busy, teams and managers can create a culture that values transparency, fair workload distribution, and real productivity. Here’s how:
For teams: Keep workload conversations open
- Talk openly about workload instead of making assumptions about who’s swamped and who isn’t.
- Normalize asking for help or reprioritizing instead of just pushing through quietly.
- Use regular check-ins to make sure tasks are being spread fairly and sustainably.
For managers: Focus on results, not just effort
- Look at actual outcomes rather than who looks the busiest.
- Make sure urgent work is assigned based on skill and capacity, not just who’s the quickest to respond.
- If someone consistently signals that they’re overloaded but their workload doesn’t reflect it, dig deeper. Could it be an issue of motivation or engagement?
For individuals: Be honest about workload
- If you’re truly overwhelmed, communicate priorities clearly rather than signaling stress.
- If you need to set boundaries, do it transparently. People will respect clear limits more than vague busyness.
- Ask yourself: Am I actually overloaded, or is something else making me disengaged? Sometimes, the real issue is motivation, fulfillment, or hidden frustrations.
Trust, transparency, and real productivity
At the end of the day, productivity isn’t about who seems busiest—it’s about who gets things done.
The best workplaces build a culture of trust, where people focus on real work instead of managing perceptions. If someone constantly looks overwhelmed, but their workload doesn’t reflect it, there’s likely a deeper issue to address.
By encouraging open conversations and fair work distribution, teams can create an environment where work is balanced, expectations are clear, and results actually matter.
