A listener wrote in saying she’s  working 12-hour days, giving up weekends, and still feels like she  can’t keep up - and asking, “Is this just the job?” And the honest answer is… it’s common, but that doesn’t mean it’s sustainable.

In this episode, Karen and Christy unpack what burnout actually looks like in school leadership, especially in those first few years when the learning curve is steep and nothing is systematized yet. Because that’s really the shift - burnout isn’t about how hard you’re working, it’s what happens when the job keeps asking more than your systems can support. They talk through why this tends to hit mid-year, how your energy quietly sets the ceiling for your entire building, and what actually helps (and no, it’s not as simple as just turning your email off). There’s also a real conversation about boundaries - why they matter, why they’re harder than they sound, and what it actually looks like to hold them.

At the end of the day, working more hours isn’t the solution. At some point, something has to be built differently.

If you’re feeling this right now, the question becomes: where is the job taking more than your systems can give - and what’s one boundary you know you need to set, but haven’t yet?