I can do the work — so why does the volume still crush me?

You can process the catch. One task, one demand, one fire — you handle it. That was never the question. The question is what happens when ten arrive at once, with no order, no warning, and no end. This is not a skill problem. You have the skill. What wears you down is that you treat every arrival as a command instead of a choice. You absorb what the hive throws instead of asking what the hive actually needs from you — and those are not the same thing. You are not alone in this catch. Others stand beside you, sorting the same flood. If you act alone, you will drown alone. Shape the load together — decide as a group what enters, what waits, and what gets refused.