In consulting, the word “urgent” stops meaning anything when every task gets the label.

In this story, one consultant working two engagements under one partner agreed to prioritize a boss’ client because the timelines were tight and the manager couldn’t push back. In return, he was promised the team would help with his own engagement when the time came.

But when that help never materialized, the consultant was left in a difficult position. He kept raising the issue with his boss, but the answer was always the same — something else came up.

So after weeks of watching his work fall through the cracks while propping up someone else’s, something inside him finally gave way.

Keep reading for the full story.

Mentally checked out of my job

So I work in consulting and everything is urgent.

This specific situation made me mentally check out of the job.

So I am working in an engagement with an engagement management and other one leading independently with same partner.

His boss made some big promises to him.

This manager promised me to focus on his client by dedicating time as the timelines were sensitive (due to their inability to push back client) and promised that the team would help me in my engagement.

My client is a little slow but I am expected to drive and push them.

And when everything becomes a priority, nothing is a priority.

So this manager makes everything priority in his project and work for him, and it’s been a couple of weeks I am raising issue that team is so busy that even I am not able to work on my engagement.

Every time something comes up and that automatically becomes priority and no one is helping me with my engagement.

How should I navigate this situation? How should I establish boundaries? How should I prepare myself so that I do not get in this situation going forward?

This sounds like an incredibly frustrating situation.

What did Reddit have to say?

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a job-hunter who was shocked when the recruiting company told them too turn down a job because the salary was too low.

This user recommends getting someone else involved.

His boss shouldn’t have made a promise he couldn’t keep.

They continue with more good advice.

Fake urgency isn’t a good motivator.

The most frustrating part of this story was that the consultant did everything right. He flagged the issue, asked for help, kept the work moving — and still ended up alone on a project that was never supposed to be a solo mission.

Instead of being a good leader, the manager treated the team like personal staff, the partner stayed silent, and the promised reinforcements turned out to be a really creative work of fiction.

This is the consulting trap in its purest form, where helping out once means helping out forever and “we’ll return the favor” is corporate code for thanks, see you later.

No job is worth losing this much sanity over.