We build systems, workflows, software, intranets, search. And AI, which we aim to use to solve problems faster. To think more clearly. To make our work a little (or lot) easier. To stop forgetting things. To feel more in control. To assist us in being better at what we do.
And sometimes... it really works.
But look closer, and it happens on three levels at once:
Organizations roll it out. Teams figure out how to use it. And individuals carry whatâs left.
Or if youâre an entrepreneur, you might do all three yourself...
Another job
Which tool to use for what. How to prompt better. How to organize not for yourself only, but also for AI. Which new model came out this week, and what are we missing because we havenât tried it yet. What are my colleagues doing which I havenât considered yet. What can I do differently. What could I do maybe as the first in my team.
Hundreds of saved articles we will never read. Notes we take, and forget the next minute. An inbox that reminds us every single day how far behind we are.
AI was supposed to take some of the load off. Instead, it adds more, always more and more. Quietly. Just differently.
Faster doesnât mean lighter
When the work gets faster, we donât do less. We always do more. To keep up with others, as well as with our own expectations. The âgood girlâ in us wants to do more, to deliver more. And the idea of an empty task list can be really frightening⊠What will my boss think? What will my colleagues think? Am I lazy? Will I be laid off? Am I worthless if I donât do more?
The hour we saved with AI doesnât go to more time with family, or a walk in the forest. It always goes to the next task. And then the next one. Just one more today⊠then one more⊠The finish line moves again... only now it moves faster.
Organizations measure AI in time saved and productivity gains. Hours, minutes, tasks done.
But burnout was never about time: itâs about energy.
You can be super productive and work fewer hours, and still burn out. You can have the best tools in the world, and still sit at your desk, paralyzed, looking at a screen that tells you how much more you should be doing.
We are not machines
Some days a task takes me half an hour. Other days the very same task takes four hours. Thatâs not a bug. Thatâs being human.
But our systems, and now AI, quietly expect us to work like them. Always on. Always optimizing. Always just one more prompt away from being better. On top of our emails, Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, and million other channels, we have 24/7 new âfriendâ, who always wants just one more answer, just one more prompt. Like a tamagotchi dressed as a work toolâŠ
And if you learned very early that your worth is in what you deliver... this goes right to the old wound.
AI doesnât create this pattern - it magnifies it. Feeds it. Be more. Deliver more. Even more.
More output. More proving. More âshouldâ.
I should use it more. I should be faster by now. I should already know how to do this.
Iâve been in tech for 25 years, most of it helping organizations find whatâs hidden in their information. I love these tools, I really do. And still, some days I notice I spend more energy managing the tools than doing the actual work. Organizing. Tagging. Prompting. Saving one more article âfor laterâ(*). It feels like progress. But itâs just more doing. Doing that looks like control.
(*) Just checked my âfor laterâ list, currently it has 576 links. Ouch!
Who is in control?
Maybe the question is not how to get more out of AI.
Maybe the question is: Where does it help me vs. what does it cost me? Not in hours - in energy.
Some things can be fast and automated. Let AI do these if you feel it helps.
Others need slow thinking, and AI can be good company there.
And some things need you. Your judgment. Your presence. Your no. Even if others or your inner voice keeps telling you youâre falling behind. You are not - you are simply staying human.
What AI canât do
AI can summarize your inbox. It canât tell you that half of it doesnât need an answer. It cannot tell you the context behind the message from your boss, who refers to the two-minute conversation you had in the elevator.
It can write the plan. It canât give you permission to say no to the project. It cannot read you and estimate how much more you can still take on your plate. Not in your calendar, but mentally, emotionally.
It can remember everything. It canât rest for you. It will not know what is a good moment to remember, and when it is a complete distraction.
Rest, boundaries, saying no, knowing when itâs enough... these were never productivity problems. Burnout doesnât come from the lack of tools, or not being efficient enough.
Itâs rather the opposite. If we forget weâre human beings. If we keep working like a machine, competing with AI, always for the next, for the more.
AI will never save you from that.
Only you can. By stopping. By deciding what is enough.
So tonight Iâm not opening my 576 links. Iâm going for a walk insteadâŠ