run around in circles字面意思是绕着圈跑，而本意则是指“徒劳无益、浪费时间”，因为绕着圈跑永远跑不远，只会无数次的回到起点。

【例句】
I'm trying to do three jobs at once and I'm only managing to run around in circles.
我正在努力同时做三份工作，只能浪费时间。

It feels like we are just running around in circles.
我们似乎只是在浪费时间。