Burnout is almost the catch cry of studio owners. The nature of this career path is that you’re basically always running on fumes. Between organising classes, running the studio, planning for events or performances, there’s barely enough time to breathe before the next busy period starts.
Studio ownership is relentless. And let’s be honest, that’s probably why you like it. Studio owners are a formidable bunch; we pride ourselves on being very busy and capable at all times. Truth bomb – we aren’t magical unicorns and we DO burn out.
Here are a few tips to help you avoid burnout without dropping the ball on your studio.
1. Schedule your breaks
Many (in fact most) studio owners also teach, which is totally fine but this creates false ‘downtime’ in your schedule. If you’re teaching 2 to 5 classes a day, that’s at least 5 hours. This leaves a lot of studio owners frantically eating lunch while replying to emails and chasing up late payments. Times when you’re not teaching are not automatically breaks. They’re only breaks if you make them breaks and do something other than admin work. Choose an hour of every day that’s a proper break where you go outside, eat your lunch slowly, listen to a podcast or read a book.
2. Reduce exposure to stressors
It depends where you are in your studio journey and how many staff members you have but the key to avoiding burnout is to avoid the things that make you feel stressed. If you don’t like calling people to get them to pay their fees, get a staff member to do it. If you don’t like waiting around to close the studio and battling peak hour traffic, get your last teacher of the day to do it. You’re the boss – use your power to remove the things in your life that are adding to your burn out.
3. Seek joy
As business owners we’re often too busy to seek the joy in our studios. Which is sad because the reason we even own studios in the first place is because of the joy they bring. Remember to enjoy it. Take the time to connect and laugh with your staff and students. Remind yourself to make your studio a light, happy and joyful place to be/
4. Have a nap
Studio owners can often be split shift workers without realising it. We often work in chunks of time and a lot of us try to be overly productive in our hours ‘off’ classes. If you have to be in your studio at 5am and you don’t leave again until late at night, have a nap. Roll out a yaga nap and have a little snooze. Do it every day! It will keep you refreshed and replenished for those long days at the studio.
Happy burnout avoiding!
All my best,
Chantelle
