Most Teams Know The Priorities, They Just Have Way Too Many Of Them

We asked 98 leaders from 86 companies how their teams really use their time. The key finding: 73% of leaders are concerned someone on their team may burn out, and the main cause isn't unclear priorities. It's capacity. Most teams know the priorities, they just commit to way too many of them.

These are the first results from the Time Boss Team Audit, a free 12-question assessment of how a team plans, prioritizes and handles the unexpected. Most of the leaders who took it run the company or sit on its leadership team.

The numbers

• 73% of leaders are concerned someone on their team may burn out.
• 72% say the activities on their team's calendars are often or always connected to company goals and values.
• 47% say their team often or always commits to more than it can reasonably accomplish.
• 47% say that when work doesn't fit the week, their team often or always absorbs it by working extra hours.
• 55% say unexpected urgent items often or always derail their team's plans for the week.
• 43% say their team often or always appears strained by the demands of their jobs.
• 38% say their team often or always moves on from a disruption without asking what caused it.
• 1% of teams scored as Sustainable, the top band of the audit. 55% scored as Stabilizing, 43% as Straining, and 1% as Surviving.

Finding 1: Priorities are clear. Capacity is not.

Nearly three in four leaders say their team's calendar reflects company goals. Yet almost half say the team commits to more than it can do. Capacity was the weakest of the three areas for 56% of teams, far ahead of handling the unexpected (29%) and working on the right things (15%).

That matches what we see in coaching. Leaders have done the work of setting priorities. What they rarely do is check those priorities against the hours the team actually has. Time is cash, not credit. A “yes” without an answer to “when?” is a commitment the team will often pay for in late nights and weekends.

Finding 2: Extra hours are the default overflow plan

When work doesn't fit, 47% of teams absorb it by working longer. Only a minority push back: 29% of leaders say their team rarely or never helps them see the tradeoffs when a new project lands on top of existing commitments.

Extra hours feel like a solution because they work for a week. They are the reason so many leaders now worry about burnout. A team that runs above its Highest Sustainable Pace can hit its goals for a while, but will eventually hit a wall, with one or more leaders burning out.

Finding 3: The chaos is here to stay, and most plans don't budget for it

More than half of teams say urgent surprises regularly wreck the week. And 38% move on from a disruption without asking what caused it, so the same fire comes back next week.

The fix isn't a better forecast. It's budgeting time for the unexpected (Time Boss calls it “Whirlwind” time) and spending a few minutes after each disruption on its root cause, so you only feel that pain once.

Finding 4: Hitting goals isn't the same as being sustainable

Two out of three leaders say their team often or always achieves its goals. But 26% say their team hits its goals and also appears strained. Results bought with exhaustion aren’t sustainable.

What leaders can do this week

1. Determine your team's actual capacity. Hours in the week, minus standing meetings, minus the recurring work that has to happen every week, minus 10% to 40% for “Whirlwind” time. That number is your actual budget for net new strategic work.
2. Make every “yes” answer the question “when?” If a new commitment can't go on the calendar, something else has to be deferred, delegated, or deleted.
3. Budget for the unexpected. Leave room in the week for urgent work you can't predict. In Time Boss we see this as 10% to 40% on average, based on how the leader’s role creates value.
4. Solve the root cause of issues. Resolve to only feel pain one time when your plans are derailed, instead of absorbing the lost time week over week.

Find out where your team stands

The Team Audit takes 4 minutes and is free. You get your team's score in each area, the cost of lost capacity, and the next step that would help most.

About the data: 98 completed Time Boss Team Audits from 86 companies, submitted August 27 to October 15, 2026. Respondents rate each statement on a five-point scale (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always); “often or always” means the top two answers. 78% of respondents were CEOs, founders, presidents, C-suite leaders or VPs. We will update these numbers as more audits come in.