There’s a certain kind of workplace that thrives on chaos. If you’ve ever been in an environment where meetings stack up, spreadsheets multiply, and priorities shift on a daily basis, you know exactly what I mean. It’s not just busy work—it’s the swirl.
The swirl is that exhausting cycle of constant pivots, unnecessary check-ins, and never-ending documentation that creates the illusion of productivity. But in reality, it drains energy, slows progress, and leaves teams spinning their wheels.
Why Does the Swirl Exist?
Some of this chaos comes from top-down leadership decisions, last-minute changes, unclear direction, or shifting priorities. But in many cases, teams create the swirl themselves. There’s almost a subconscious belief that if something is harder, it must be important.
The result?
🚩 Meetings about meetings
🚩 Endless formatting of reports that no one reads
🚩 Daily changes in priorities, with no real strategy
🚩 The need to constantly “prove” busyness
When organizations normalise chaos, they don’t just waste time—they burn out their best people.
The Cost of Workplace Chaos
Most people function best in a state of predictability, equilibrium, and clarity. But when these things are missing, workplaces suffer:
❌ Decision fatigue: Too many choices, too much shifting direction, and no clear path forward.
❌ Burnout: High performers (the ones who actually get things done) feel drained from navigating unnecessary complexity.
❌ Missed opportunities: When everything is urgent, nothing is. Big-picture work gets lost in the noise.
If you’ve ever left work feeling mentally exhausted but unable to point to anything meaningful you accomplished, you’ve experienced the swirl firsthand.
Fixing the Swirl. Leaders, This is on You
If you’re leading a team, it’s your job to protect your people from unnecessary complexity. That means:
✅ Set clear priorities. Make sure your team knows what actually matters—every week, not just once a year.
✅ Eliminate pointless meetings. If a meeting isn’t solving a problem or providing direction, it’s a time sink.
✅ Simplify processes. Look at where complexity has crept in. Is all the documentation really necessary? Can workflows be streamlined?
✅ Encourage execution, not just discussion. At the end of the day, output matters more than activity.
Busyness is not the same as progress.
Just because an organisation is buzzing with movement doesn’t mean it’s producing results. The best workplaces create clarity, not chaos. And the best leaders protect their teams from the swirl.
If your work environment thrives on confusion, ask yourself, who is actually benefiting from it? Because it’s definitely not the people doing the work.
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