> we're stuck picking up the slack
You may be on a team that has decided "developer burnout" is just an inevitable and acceptable cost of business.
> since there's a near infinity backlog?
Which is a problem in and of itself. In any case I'm only going to be able to give you like 4, real, solid hours of work a day on that log. The other 4 will be team coordination, managing that log, and stress management maybe while I hate eat my lunch.
> everyone is given exploration time
Call it "skill investment time." We're in a fast moving industry and keeping heads down for too long is destructive personally and organizationally. It's also the pathway to getting more than the basic level of engagement above.