No Days Off with Brian Gubernick 761. AI Is Increasing Your Workload - Not Decreasing It!
Feb 27, 2026
A look at research showing AI often increases hours, multitasking, and cognitive load instead of cutting work. Discussion of how AI can expand roles and blur boundaries across teams. A leadership-focused take on creating clear AI rules to prevent burnout. Practical guidance to audit tasks, spot workload creep, and set limits so AI becomes leverage rather than added pressure.
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AI Raises Productivity And Workload Simultaneously
- Harvard Business Review research found AI increases productivity but also expands work scope and hours.
- A 200-person tech firm adopted AI voluntarily over eight months and saw faster output, more responsibilities, and greater cognitive fatigue.
Three Patterns Explain Why AI Intensifies Work
- Researchers identified three patterns: task expansion, blurred boundaries, and multitasking that increases cognitive load.
- Examples included designers coding, managers engineering, and employees working during breaks and nights.
AI Amplifies Ambition Not Free Time
- AI amplifies ambition rather than reducing it, raising standards and creating a new speed-as-normal expectation.
- Entrepreneurs tend to add more actions when tools make them faster, e.g., sending more emails or analyzing more deals.