The Workday That Disappeared

It’s 5:37 p.m.

You close your laptop. You’ve been in motion all day – emails, meetings, those quick “Got a sec?” chats that somehow take 40 minutes. You’ve barely looked up, barely eaten, and somehow still feel… behind?

And yet, when you try to answer the question “What did I actually do today?” Your mind draws a blank.

Welcome to the workday that disappeared.

The Invisible Grind

This isn’t a post about time management hacks. This is about that uniquely frustrating feeling of running on full speed… and still not knowing where you went.

The truth is that most workdays don’t fall apart because we did nothing. They fall apart because we did everything but the thing that mattered.

You were busy. You were “crushing it.” But somewhere between the morning scramble and the afternoon haze, your actual priorities got swallowed by everything else.

Some common culprits:

Your calendar looks like a game of Tetris. There’s no room to think, only room to react.
You’re multitasking constantly. Which means you’re starting a lot and finishing less.
You didn’t define success for the day. So now, you’re judging yourself against a blank page.

You’re Not Alone

If you’ve ever ended the day feeling like you got steamrolled by invisible tasks, you’re not alone. Many professionals (especially early in their careers) assume that feeling scattered is just part of “being productive.”

Spoiler: it’s not.

A Mindset Shift: Visibility Over Volume

Let’s redefine a “successful” workday. Not by how many things you’ve checked off. Not by how many meetings you survived.

But by this – did I move something forward that matters to me or my role?

You don’t need to do it all. You need to do something that counts and be able to name it at the end of the day.

Try This: The “3Things” Approach

(Originally introduced to our team by Performance Coach Holly Lewis – it’s simple, doable, and it works.)

To-do lists can be overwhelming – and when everything feels important, it’s easy to do nothing at all.

The “3 Things” Approach helps you focus without the pressure.

Each morning, choose 3 things you want to accomplish that day – and write them down.
Keep your list visible. Use it as your compass throughout the day.
Once you finish your 3 things, check in with yourself. If you have energy for more, go for it. If not, that’s perfectly okay.

Keep a separate “parking lot” list for all the tasks and ideas that come up throughout the day.

Review your parking lot each morning to choose your 3 things, then tuck it away so it doesn’t distract you.

At the end of the day, do a quick mental replay:

What moved?
What stalled?
What would I do different tomorrow?

No judgment. Just data.

And One More Thing: Make the Invisible Visible

A lot of what you do in a day is real but invisible. Coaching a colleague through a tricky decision? That counts. Cleaning up messy notes after a chaotic meeting? That counts. Thinking strategically about a long-term goal while folding laundry on your break? That counts too.

The work we most devalue is often the stuff that glues teams, ideas, and momentum together. But because it’s not “measurable,” we ignore it. Until it disappears – and so does our sense of purpose.

Write it down. Name it. Give it credit. You’re doing more than you think.

If You’re Feeling Behind, You’re Not

If you’ve been feeling like every day is a blur of almosts and maybes – breathe. You’re not doing it wrong. You’re just living in a culture that rarely pauses long enough to ask what’s actually worth doing.

You just need to get in the habit of seeing your day before it runs away from you.

And if today disappeared? That’s ok! Try again tomorrow. That’s the job.