If your brain feels tired before your body does, you’re not imagining it.

This role asks for emotional presence, constant judgment, and endless decision-making. Some weeks, it starts to feel like everything funnels through you — and that weight adds up.

This week’s focus is about lightening the load without stepping away.

Being involved in everything isn’t the same as leading well.

What we see over and over again is this: when a school depends on one person for clarity, decisions, and follow-through, leadership becomes unsustainable. Strong principals don’t disappear — they build capacity so the school doesn’t rely on them for every answer.

The shift is moving from doing to designing.

Stop Being the Middle

Notice this week how often you act as the go-between:

Now try this instead:

One simple move:
When someone brings you a problem, respond with:“

Who else should be part of this conversation?”

When someone expects you to handle it:

“This is a great place to start with ___.”

When you’re pulled in unnecessarily:

“I’m happy to support, but this doesn’t need to come through me first.”

Boundaries build stronger teams.

Make Weeknights Easier Than Weekends

Pick two dinners you repeat every week.
No creativity. No guilt.

When home life feels simpler, leadership feels lighter — even when work stays hard.

Does your inbox feel like it’s running your day? Principals get buried under hundreds of emails every week—most of them urgent-sounding but low-priority. The truth? You’ll never answer them all (and you don’t need to).

In this episode, we break down the different types of emails that flood your inbox—from FYIs and parent complaints to staff questions and those never-ending cc chains—and share practical strategies to handle them without losing your sanity. Check it out 👇

Our TPE vendors create so many great resources, but one of our favorites (and a principal favorite too) is Music Bingo. Enharmonic Education has versions for every season and event — and this one is free. It’s an easy win for your next staff meeting or school event.

This newsletter is, and always will be, free. But to help support our mission we would love for you to share with your school leader friends! As a thank you, we have a referral program for you to earn rewards as you share!

We are doing a big giveaway from now until January 31st. For each referral, you are going to get an entry into our $100 Amazon gift card giveaway!

Just make sure to use your referral link below to get your entries!

Psst… referrals must confirm their email to count!

You can be supportive without being responsible for everything.

Leadership lasts longer when it’s shared!

— Sarah & Andra