Working patterns that work

MAKE YOUR WORKING WEEK WORK FOR YOU

We know, thanks to Dolly Parton, that “workin’ nine to five ain’t no way to make a livin’”, but how do you create a working week that works for you?

THE WORLD OF WORK IS CHANGING

The pandemic has brought about major changes in the way many people work. This will have a considerable knock on effect on many holistic therapists. Many people have discovered that working from home is more efficient and enjoyable than being in the office. Deloitte have said that they expect some of their workers will choose to work from home on a permanent basis. A poll of over 500 business leaders by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry found one in five businesses which were office-based before the pandemic expect staff to work from home for five days a week after the Covid crisis finishes. Almost half of firms that are able to work remotely expect employees to work from home for up to five days a week.

Aside from enabling technology which facilitates working in a distributed organisation, one of the major drivers of this change is the underlying realisation of the importance of work/life balance and the rediscovery of what matters to us. In the US, where unemployment is at a very low level, people who work in areas of high demand are leaving companies that won’t offer home working in favour of those which do.

While this move towards working from home has an obvious, and devastating, effect on therapists who offered on-site massages in the corporate sector, it also offers an opportunity for others who can offer online, mobile at home or local treatments.

Working from home will not be the only change in working patterns over the next few years. In Japan, a country where overworking is endemic, there are moves in parliament to bring in a four day working week. Microsoft Japan ran a month long test which showed productivity rose 40% when the company trialled a four day working week. Scotland, Ireland and Spain are also working on programmes to create a four day working week, which offers benefits in terms of physical and mental health as well as a significant reduction in the carbon footprint. If implemented, this may create a three day weekend, with Friday becoming a leisure day, with increased demand for treatments.

Furthermore, working from home need not involve actually being at home. Rather, people could work from the beach in Barbados or a low-cost base in a country that offered better weather than the UK. Barbados fostered the idea of the Digital Nomad. The Barbados Welcome Stamp is a year-long remote work visa scheme open to applicants worldwide who earn around £40,000. Others choose to work from lower-cost economies such as Thailand, or become truly nomadic, travelling as they work.

RECOGNISE THAT YOUR CLIENTS NO LONGER WORK MONDAY TO FRIDAY, NINE TO FIVE

Such changes would mean that many clients would no longer work the standard five day, nine to five week. It would make sense to find out how your clients might be affected and what this means for your own working hours. It may down, but is concerned about her income as her savings took a large hit when she was in lockdown. She has a seven year old daughter, who she drops off at school and who is often in bed by the time she comes home. Her partner is a postman, working six days a week from 6am to 2pm each afternoon. He doesn’t work on Sundays and finishes at noon on Saturdays. Her mother helps with childcare during the holidays, but Julie feels guilty that she doesn’t spend quality family time with her daughter, or her partner, except for Sundays.

In an ideal world, Julie would like to take the whole weekend off, which would mean negotiating a change to her hours at the spa, swapping her Saturday afternoon shift for working on Tuesday afternoons. In the longer term, she might also look to reducing her working evenings to her sessions at the gym and making sure her spa sessions end at 8pm.

be that clients would prefer treatments in the evenings or during weekends, but this would, inevitably, have an impact on your own work/life balance as well as having financial implications.

ESSENTIAL CONSIDERATIONS

Many holistic therapists tend to put the needs of others before their own needs. This can lead to feelings of being taken for granted, overlooked and may eventually lead to burn out. It’s vital to create a working week that meets not only your financial requirements but your need for time with family and friends or just to yourself.

There are many different factors to consider, but the principle one is to ask yourself, “What does my ideal working week look like?” Is it full time or part time? Would you prefer to work five short days or three longer ones? Do you want to work at weekends or in the evenings? Do you need to create a schedule that takes childcare or other responsibilities into account? How would you fit in training or CPD? What support can you rely on from your family or partner? How many clients do you want to see or need to see each week? What about social engagements?

Many holistic therapists tend to put the needs of others before their own needs. This can lead to feelings of being taken for granted, overlooked and may eventually lead to burn out

Let’s take Julie as an example. Julie offers reiki, acupuncture and is a massage therapist. Currently she works four days a week, from Wednesday to Saturday at a local spa. Her hours are 10am to 8pm. The spa often schedules an 8pm appointment which means she’s often not home till 9.45. She also sees clients at a holistic centre on Monday afternoons and has a sports massage clinic at a leisure centre on Monday evenings. Tuesdays tend to be spent rushing around, trying to do a week’s worth of chores in a day. She feels run

PEAK PRICING

One option when it comes to designing the best working week for your life is to look at how your own availability during the week, then take a lesson from railway and airline companies. It is more expensive to travel at times of high demand and cheaper to travel off-peak. It’s also cheaper if you book a season ticket or pay months in advance. Gyms, and many sporting facilities offer off-peak memberships too.

If you work at weekends or during the evening, should you charge more for these slots if they are in greater demand? Suppose you charged £30 for a treatment in a low demand period, £40 for mid-demand times and £60 for treatment at peak times. Could you reduce charges for regular block bookings which are paid in advance? The easiest way to work out how you could get the right balance between income and working hours is to create a number of timetables for different working patterns and the resultant income. It may make sense to work fewer hours during the week and capitalise on higher demand at the weekends, or it may prove that you value free time more than the income a couple of extra treatments might bring.

Whatever your approach, designing your idea working week should enable you to enjoy a better work/life balance and a more secure income stream. n

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