'Running round in circles' is a phrase that indicates you are getting nowhere fast.
You are incredibly busy, working hard, but you don't achieve anything you set out to do. You might be playing telephone tag with people, missing them when you call, and being away when they call back. You might be chasing information that you need, but can't get hold of. You might get started on something then get distracted by something trivial but urgent, or you might do a lot of work and then find out that something about the project has changed, and nobody bothered to tell you, so that the work is wasted.
Running round in circles is a frustrating and all too common way to spend a day.