You know those days when you walk out of the office or close your laptop and feel like you’ve run a marathon, yet you can’t quite point to what actually drained you? Chances are, you’ve been carrying invisible work.
It’s not the obvious deadlines or the late-night prep for a big presentation. Everyone expects those to take energy. What grinds you down is the quieter load — the side jobs and emotional glue that no one names but everyone benefits from.
Like always being the one who takes notes in meetings. Or being the person colleagues turn to when they’re upset, because they know you’ll listen. None of these are in your job description. But if you stopped doing them? The gap would be glaring.
The Weight That Builds in Silence
Picture a common scenario. Every morning, before a colleague even gets into their own tasks, three “quick” requests land in their inbox:
- Can you polish this draft?
- Can you explain the meeting notes?
- Can you help smooth this out before it goes to the client?
Individually, each request feels harmless. So they say yes. By the afternoon, their real work is waiting, but their energy has been chipped away piece by piece.
That’s how invisible work works. It doesn’t crash down all at once. It drips. It leaks. It lingers. And because nobody counts it, nobody shares it.
Funny thing is, the big wins get celebrated. Project launches come with cake and speeches. But the tiny favors — the ones that keep the team moving? They vanish from the record. Except, of course, for the person doing them.
Why Leaders Often Miss It
Most managers aren’t heartless, they’re just blind to it. Work is usually measured in deliverables and deadlines. Invisible tasks don’t leave a trail. Unless someone spells it out, they simply slide under the radar.
And here’s the tricky part: speaking up feels awkward. Saying, “I’m tired of always fixing the formatting” sounds petty compared to “I’m overwhelmed with deadlines.” So the load stays hidden until it shows up as exhaustion, resentment, or burnout.
Where Mental Health Fits In
This is where the benefits of mental health training go deeper than surface-level wellness. It’s not just about stress management workshops or guided breathing at lunchtime. The real value is teaching people to recognize the hidden drains — the constant interruptions, the emotional labor, the “glue work” that holds teams together but rarely gets credit.
Training gives staff a language for this: “This matters too.” It gives leaders a lens to ask better questions: “What’s weighing on you that doesn’t show up in reports?” These small conversations can be the difference between a team member thriving or quietly burning out.
Invisible, but Not Inevitable
Invisible work isn’t going away. Every workplace needs people who connect the dots and smooth the edges. But it doesn’t need to rest on the same shoulders every time, and it doesn’t need to be ignored.
- Rotate the small responsibilities so they’re spread fairly.
- Name and acknowledge unseen effort out loud.
- Ease up expectations when someone is clearly carrying extra.
Recognition doesn’t have to be grand. Even a single sentence: “I see the extra effort you’re making” — can make a heavy load feel lighter.
The Real Cost of Pretending It’s Nothing
Invisible work may look small on paper, but in reality it shapes whether people feel valued or invisible themselves. If organizations keep pretending it doesn’t matter, the people doing it will eventually check out — emotionally, or literally.
But if workplaces choose to see it, share it, and respect it, invisible work can shift from a hidden burden into a shared strength.
Peter Diaz is the CEO of Workplace Mental Health Institute. He’s an author and accredited mental health social worker with senior management experience. Having recovered from his own experience of bipolar depression, Peter is passionate about assisting organizations to address workplace mental health issues in a compassionate yet results-focussed way. He’s also a Dad, Husband, Trekkie and Thinker.
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