Managing Your Sanity Through the School Year

It was early October, and I was lying awake at 2 a.m.—a veteran principal overwhelmed by the weight of my responsibilities. Despite the approaching holiday season, I felt anything but festive. My calendar was filled with back-to-back meetings, observation feedback deadlines, staff concerns, and professional learning. I remember thinking, “I love this work, but it’s only October, and I’m already running on fumes.” By the end of November, I was working late every night, skipping lunch most days, and questioning my abilities as a principal and mother.

My story isn’t unique. School leaders across the country are burdened with mounting workloads, increasing expectations, complex student needs, mental health crises, staffing shortages, and relentless change. We are dedicated professionals with a deep sense of purpose, committed to excellence and determined to positively impact our communities. Still, many of us are running on empty, believing burnout is just “part of the job.”

RAND Corp.’s “State of the American Principal” report says that 85 percent of principals experienced frequent job-​related stress in 2022, more than double the rate of other working adults (35 percent). Almost half (48 percent) of the principals surveyed reported feelings of burnout, and 28 percent had symptoms of depression. Nonetheless, most expressed a desire to stay in their current roles.

That’s the paradox of school leadership: The same passion and drive that fuel us can also lead us straight into exhaustion. The unspoken truth is that it takes more than passion and drive to sustain the demands of today’s school leadership landscape. Without systems, strategy, and space to breathe, even the most dedicated leaders risk burning out.

You can, however, take a different approach—one that’s research-informed and aligns the work of the school leader with the rhythm of the school year. I follow a framework designed to prevent burnout, empower the school team, and restore energy, focus, and fulfillment. Sustainable leadership is no longer optional; it is essential.

The Stress of School Leadership

School leadership has always been challenging, but today’s landscape demands more—more energy, more time, and more resilience. “How Principals Affect Students and Schools: A Systematic Synthesis of Two Decades of Research” says that successful principals must lead people, instruction, and organization. Authored by Jason A. Grissom, Anna J. Egalite, and Constance A. Lindsay, the 2021 report commissioned by The Wallace Foundation notes that the associated leadership behaviors should create a sense of belonging for students and staff, promote effective instructional practices, ensure a psychologically safe and productive learning environment, support continuous professional development, and manage resources efficiently.

Consider the work of the modern principal. She faces rapidly changing policies, teacher shortages, societal tensions, student and staff mental health needs, and the ever-present imperative to improve outcomes. Principals must balance being visionary and operational, leader and manager, compassionate and decisive, and strategic and available. Both the bar and the burden have been raised. It’s no wonder so many principals are emotionally drained and physically exhausted.

The Need for Sustainable Leadership

The expectation to be constantly “on” extends to late nights and weekends. The mental and emotional weight that comes with caring can be heavy. Still, principals remain dedicated. They understand their calling, know their “why,” recognize their impact, and believe in the power of education.

Principals draw on cognitive, social, and personal resources to problem-solve, lead instruction, think strategically, manage their emotions, and perceive the emotions of others—ideally, while maintaining the optimism and resilience necessary to reach school and division goals. Principals must maintain high levels of energy and enthusiasm to meet the diverse needs of their students, staff, and school community, and to do that, principals must show up as their best selves with integrity and consistency.

Sustainable leadership can help. It’s a strategic approach that concentrates on doing the work that matters most with clarity and intention. It aligns energy and systems—personal and professional—to help principals lead with purpose, confidence, and endurance. I like to say that it helps principals manage the school year and their sanity.

Leveraging the Rhythm of the School Year

There is an ebb and flow to the school year. With attention, you might notice patterns in student and staff energy, discipline, assessments, professional learning, and more. Leveraging that rhythm helps manage all of the things you need to manage—control the controllables.

What if you could use this knowledge to better align and optimize systems that support sustainability in your role? What if you optimized systems, energy, and support at the right times to lead more strategically? Here’s how one professional handled things.

As a principal and a mother of three who was passionate about her work and her family, “Jane” was determined to find a sustainable way to lead without compromising her life outside of work. She built a system that helped her anticipate, prepare, and protect what mattered most.

In planning her strategy, she considered the following questions:

1. What is the capacity of the students and staff during each month or time of year, and what is my capacity? In assessing capacity, Jane considered how energy levels were influenced by events, student needs, mindsets, assessment windows, grading deadlines, and instructional demands.

For example, Jane knew that the “honeymoon” period of the new school year would end in October, energy would start to wane, and there would be a spike in discipline issues. She anticipated being deeply involved in learning walks, PLCs, and formal observation and feedback sessions to keep instructional leadership at the forefront.

With this in mind, Jane leveraged her leadership skills in the areas of people and organizational management to collaborate with her instructional leadership and principal advisory teams. They spent August and September establishing systems to support behavioral expectations and instructional practices. They would revisit and optimize these systems in October, allowing Jane to focus on instructional leadership.

2. What stressors can we anticipate? While the holiday season is a festive time, Jane considered the stressors that impact students, staff, and families. She was intentional about how much she added to these stress levels. One shift she made was to ask her team if they preferred a holiday gathering, a celebratory event after winter break, or a half-year success celebration in February. Her team chose the half-year success celebration, removing unintentional stressors from the busy holiday season.

3. What systems do we have or need that would keep us at our best each month? Jane knew that March and April would be the busiest times of the year for her personally because her children participated in spring sports. She anticipated spikes in discipline problems and depleted energy, and she recognized the same two months were the peak of hiring season for the next school year. In planning, she needed to ensure she did not overschedule or overcommit herself or staff to school events in the spring.

Jane strategized with her team to map out school events, minimizing evening events in the spring. She optimized methods such as the “First Responder” system outlined in the “Making Time for Instructional Leadership” study commissioned by The Wallace Foundation. The system minimizes interruptions to strategic work. She also empowered her instructional leadership team to continue with data analysis, coaching, and feedback, which enabled her to prioritize staffing and other essential springtime leadership moves.

4. What do grace and accountability look like during each particular time of year? Jane thought proactively about how she would continue to hold her students, staff, and self accountable while extending the level of grace necessary for the season.

Creating a Framework for Sustainable Leadership

Here’s how school leaders can build a framework that recognizes the most stressful and busy times of year and distributes necessary school tasks accordingly:

Assess capacity. Consider the capacity of staff, students, and yourself during different times of the year. Know when energy levels might wane or there might be a spike in disciplinary issues. Plan accordingly to optimize systems that support behavioral expectations and instructional practices.

Why it works: Understanding the ebb and flow of energy throughout the school year allows you to plan more effectively and ensures that you are not overburdened during peak times.

Anticipate stressors. Don’t wait to be overwhelmed.Predict it, and plan around it.

Why it works: By anticipating stressors, you are able to create a more balanced and supportive environment. It isn’t just about reducing stress; it’s also about being proactive and thoughtful in planning.

Develop and optimize systems that align with the rhythm of the school year. Ensure you have support systems in place during busy times. For example, minimize events in any season when your personal commitments are higher.

Why it works: Developing and optimizing systems minimizes interruptions and ensures that strategic work can continue. Systems empower teams to lead effectively during peak times, creating space for you to focus on strategic leadership. This supports productivity and well-being by reducing stress and enhancing team collaboration.

Balance grace and accountability. People need structure and empathy. Lead with both.

Why it works: Balancing grace and accountability is about recognizing the human side of leadership. It’s important to hold people accountable, but it’s equally important to extend grace and support

The Bottom Line

You stepped into the principalship to make a difference in the lives of students, build and support teams, and have a positive impact on the community, not to end each day feeling depleted and overwhelmed. Principals can lead with excellence and sustainability, and systems that operate even when the principal is exhausted can help. Reflect on your own leadership practices. Pay attention to the rhythms. Lead with intention. And remember: Your well-being is not a luxury. It’s a leadership priority.

Kimani Vaughan is director of elementary schools with Virginia Beach City Public Schools in Virginia Beach, Virginia.