How do I stop feeling overwhelmed running a school?

Running a school means everything runs through you, and being always behind is almost built into the job. Feeling overwhelmed does not mean you are bad at it. It means the work is genuinely bigger than the hours, and you have been trying to close that gap with sheer effort. That approach has a ceiling, and you have hit it. Being always behind usually means the list has no bottom, so finishing is not the goal you should measure yourself against. Instead of chasing done, aim for handling the right things in the right order. Some tasks matter enormously and some just feel urgent because they are loud. Learn to tell them apart, and let the loud-but-minor ones wait without guilt. Start tomorrow by writing down only the three things that truly must happen that day, and let those anchor you. When the flood comes, return to those three. You will not empty the list. No one in your role ever does. But you can stop measuring yourself by an impossible finish and start measuring yourself by whether the things that mattered got done.