Takeaway: Make an effort to notice the days and weeks that feel good to you and when your schedule doesn’t feel so great so you can make adjustments to suit your needs. 

Every first week of November, I start scheduling my regular clients for the next calendar year. This acknowledgment of how time flies inevitably serves as a nudge to get my act together and think through my priorities for the year ahead. 

An end-of-the-year reflection is a valuable tool to avoid the burnout that’s common in caregiving professions. This reflection doesn’t need to be a big process that requires half a day of deep thinking and journaling. Just being a bit more aware of your day-to-day routines and feelings can be enough to help you decide what parts of your business need to change or improve.

We’ve explored in the past how to consider your physical, mental, and financial spaces in preparation for a new year (“End Well and Begin Again,” Massage & Bodywork, November/December 2021, page 18). Lately, I’ve found myself thinking more about the less tangible and harder-to-nail-down parts of my business. 

I’ve been reflecting on my internal guidelines governing response time to client communications, how many days (or days in a row) per week I want to be in my massage office, and when and why I’ll turn away new clients.

Communicating and Response Time

It’s good business practice to be consistent and timely in returning phone calls, texts, and emails from clients. Nobody likes to be left hanging, uncertain of when or if they can get in for a massage. At the same time, boundaries around your personal time are important for your well-being. 

Consider your business hours and how you feel about responding to clients outside those hours. If your policy needs an upgrade, put that in place. It can take some time to retrain clients who are used to you always being available. Use an automated email reply or outgoing message on your voicemail saying, “Thanks for your message. I will respond on my next business day. You can schedule your appointment online and see my business hours at [website].” 

Text can be a little trickier because automatic text responses aren’t an available feature on every device. It may be helpful to acknowledge the text and offer a “self-serve” option as well as set the expectation for response. When a client texts to ask about your schedule (or for an exception to your schedule) try, “All my availability is in the online schedule at [website]. If you don’t see anything there, let me know and I will call you when I’m back in the office to make a plan.”

You get to decide how available you want to be to clients and craft a response that respects your time and boundaries.

Hands-On Schedule

My work schedule seems to always be evolving. Over the years, it’s adjusted to accommodate officemates and renters, school vacations and co-parenting, the changing abilities and issues of my own body, and the ups and downs of my stamina. More recently, my schedule has evolved to allow for COVID ventilation protocols and office neighbors who take up all the parking spaces on specific days. As resistant as I am to change and as much as I thrive on routine, it is really nice to make regular adjustments that suit me, my needs, and how I want to work. 

Last year, I noticed I don’t love early morning appointments, but adding occasional Sunday evening appointments works well for me (and my clients). This year I’ve found that I prefer days with three longer appointments over days with four shorter appointments. 

I physically feel better when I break up the massage days versus plowing through five consecutive days at the massage office. I eat and feel better when I have a work-from-home day midweek that allows me to meal prep for the next few days. As I set my 2024 schedule, all these factors come into play. Never perfect, but always gently adjusting and evolving my work schedule seems to serve me—and my clients—well.

Make an effort to notice the days and weeks that feel good to you and when your schedule doesn’t feel so great so you can make adjustments to suit your needs.

Taking New Clients (or Not)

“I am not a ‘throw your back out’ kind of massage therapist.” I’ve found myself saying this out loud frequently. When you are building a business, it can be hard to refuse a new client. We are taught to see every new client as an opportunity to make a good impression, retain that client, and maybe get referrals from them eventually. 

But . . . I’m not going to make a good impression if I’m nervous about making their low-back spasm worse, or if I’m working with issues that aren’t compatible with my skill set. I am just not great at acute pain relief, and the pressure and expectations of those acute appointments stress me out.

My website is pretty clear about whom I serve, and I’ve made it a point to screen new clients via my online booking process. I’ll reach out before a client’s first appointment to clarify their needs and potentially refer them elsewhere if we’re not a good match. 

Some clients are less than thrilled that I can’t meet their needs. Others are happy to avoid wasting their time and money and delighted that I have a thoughtful referral for them. Regardless, I can feel happy and confident about every client who walks in my door.