5 Tips to Battle Burnout in Your Massage Business

If burnout and stress have taken over and you’re considering closing your business or otherwise giving up…

First, give yourself some grace. You are not a failure because you’re human and need a break. You’re not a failure because you choose to prioritize certain things over others. You’re not a failure because you’re doing what’s necessary and right for you.

There’s no doubt that burnout and stress can pile up and we can sit back staring at this business we’ve created, or are trying to create, and want to just throw in the towel. But before you do, here’s a few things I hope will help you make the best decisions during this time.

#1 Determine why you’re burned out

Is it stress, overwhelm, boredom, finances, clients, or something else? Make a list of the things that you’re stressed over, keep mulling around in your head, find yourself feeling anxious about. Even doing a deep analysis of what it is day-to-day that you’re doing that sets off these feelings of burnout. It may be one major thing or a ton of tiny things. Sometimes burnout comes from having too much on our plates, sometimes it’s from not feeling challenged enough, and sometimes it’s specifics in the business that we can either work on, delegate out, or otherwise control differently, but may not feel like we can.

#2 Make a plan for change

Once you’ve identified what’s at the root of your feelings of burnout, make a plan to change those things.

If it’s too much on your plate, delegate, drop some stuff, or otherwise thin out your responsibilities as much as humanly possible. Oftentimes our expectations for what we “should” be able to do are way too high, and we just set ourselves up for failure by assuming we can do more than is really possible.

If you’re not feeling challenged because you’re doing the same old boring Swedish massages on the same clients all day every day, it’s time for some new skills and new marketing.

If it’s your finances, get a handle on where you are and what you can do to make small but significant improvements.

#3 Know that motivation is not a real thing, but choices are

It’s about priorities, not some ethereal feeling of motivation that happens to strike. Take it one day, one hour, or one minute at a time. Implement those changes you come up with one small step at a time. Having a plan doesn’t magically change things for you but it gives you a roadmap and clear direction so you don’t have the additional feelings of being lost in it all.

#4 Don’t be afraid to take a break and regroup

Sometimes taking some time away from your business can give you an entirely different perspective and be just what you need. I’m not talking about just a week at the beach, although that’s nice. Take a meaningful break, and then a productive break, before you jump back in. It could be a week or a month or longer; whatever you feel like you need.

So first, a meaningful break….by that I mean you need to take some time completely away from the business and anything to do with it. Prepay your bills, set up some automated “out of the office” replies, and completely disengage. Go somewhere else or just lay around your house. This is your time to rest, recover, and grieve. Yes, grieve whatever it is you feel like you’re losing. Been there, done that. And it is a real grieving process you have to go through.

Then, a productive break…and by this I mean that you need to now take some time to figure out what the heck you really want. Don’t just take that time to rest and then jump back into the same craziness that you left. That’s not going to help and the burnout will come back fast. This productive break is meant to allow you time to really assess if your business is even what you want it to be, without the day-to-day needs of the business hanging over you. Use this time to create new systems, come up with a new business plan, research potential options and changes you could make, and overall design an entirely new business that doesn’t have all those issues you listed out in #1.

#5 If you need to step away from business ownership or the profession entirely, that’s ok too

I know it’s not what most would expect to hear from someone like me, but seriously, you have to do what’s right for you and your family. This profession isn’t for everyone. Business ownership isn’t for everyone. And while I hope that you will all stick with it forever and I can help you make it work wonderfully, I also want to recognize your unique needs…and that isn’t always this.

Please know that you can reach out to me anytime. If you have questions, need some advice, you need help figuring out how to fix things in your business…whatever. I’m here for whatever you need, so please don’t hesitate to send me a message, email, call, or text.

And if you’re not the type to want to talk things out with someone, but still need lots of guidance and help figuring out this whole business thing, check out my 30-Day Business Transformation program. This isn’t some get-rich-quick type of deal, or promising you the stars. It’s a step-by-step of setting up the foundation of a successful business. From mindset to business planning, branding, marketing, understanding all the numbers, and more…it’s everything you need to get a strong business started or revived.