If your day often feels like a blur of meetings, emails, and admin tasks that never seem to end, you’re not alone. According to HCAMag, a new report has found that Australians are spending an average of six hours every workday on repetitive, low-value tasks — time that could be better spent on innovation, strategy, and meaningful progress.
The 2025 Momentum at Work Report by Miro explored how changing global work trends are shaping employee productivity and engagement. In Australia, the findings are sobering: workers spend most of their time in what Miro calls “maintenance work” — tasks that keep the lights on but don’t necessarily move the business forward.
The strategic work gap
While maintenance work dominates, employees only spend about one hour and 42 minutes per day on “strategic work” — the kind of creative thinking, problem-solving, and innovation that helps organisations grow.
For executive assistants, this finding hits close to home. EAs sit at the centre of operations, ensuring everything runs smoothly for their executives and teams. Yet, they’re often pulled into endless cycles of scheduling, approvals, inbox management, and administrative coordination, leaving little time for the proactive, high-impact contributions they’re capable of delivering.
This imbalance isn’t just frustrating; it’s demotivating. More than half of Australian employees (54%) said they feel like they’re achieving less despite working longer hours. It’s a sign that “busy” doesn’t always equal “productive,” and that organisations might need to rethink how work is structured to allow for more creative and strategic thinking.
The emotional toll of repetition
The consequences aren’t just operational, they’re emotional, too. Miro’s report found that one in four Australians experiences emotional overload at least once a month, largely due to the imbalance between repetitive and meaningful work.
When employees spend most of their energy on repetitive admin instead of rewarding, purpose-driven work, it can lead to burnout, disconnection, and decreased engagement. For executive assistants, who already carry significant emotional labour managing others’ time and priorities, the impact can be even more pronounced.
It’s a reminder that well-being at work isn’t only about work-life balance — it’s also about work quality.
Silos and outdated tools holding teams back
The report also found that organisational silos are a major obstacle to productive, meaningful work. Nearly 63% of employees said information and data are spread across too many disconnected systems, creating barriers to collaboration.
More than half also pointed to communication (58%) and functional (51%) silos in their workplace, with 49% blaming outdated technology and legacy tools for these issues.
For executive assistants, who are often the “connective tissue” between teams, departments, and leaders, this fragmentation can make their jobs even harder. Chasing information across multiple platforms or systems can eat up hours each day – hours that could be spent on strategic coordination or problem-solving.
“Maintenance work and silos are making it difficult to do great work and slowing innovation,” said Tomás Dostal Freire, CIO and Head of Business Transformation at Miro. “This is bad for both individual morale and for organisations looking to accelerate innovation. It doesn’t have to be this way.”
AI: a possible solution
Despite these challenges, there’s growing optimism that artificial intelligence (AI) could be the answer. Many employees believe AI can ease the load of repetitive admin and free up time for higher-value tasks.
According to Miro’s report:
- 58% think AI can reduce the burden of reporting.
- 60% believe it will eliminate redundant rework across multiple tools.
- 65% say it can improve information sharing.
- 57% believe it can enhance communication.
- 45% think it will boost cross-functional collaboration.
For executive assistants, who are already early adopters of productivity technology, AI presents a powerful opportunity. From smart scheduling and automated inbox management to real-time data analysis and document drafting, AI tools can dramatically reduce time spent on repetitive tasks — allowing EAs to focus on strategic priorities, relationship-building, and executive support at a higher level.
Freire said AI is already being used in workplaces to cut down time spent on admin, but that’s just the beginning.
“Truly meaningful transformation comes when AI understands the full team context and contributes to team speed, not just individual task automation,” he said. “Teams can then spend more time delivering the high-value work they enjoy while simultaneously achieving better quality and results for the business.”
