Massage Collage

I realized some time ago that even if I stayed at my office until midnight every night, I’d still have things waiting to be done.  My list is long and on-going; cross one thing off and put on another. 

I’m an early morning riser and a recovering workaholic; usually up before 5, at the office no later than 7:30, and for the past four years since opening my clinic, I’ve been there until 7:30 many nights.  I’ve resolved to give that up this year as we’re heading into our fifth year.  I’ve been making a big effort to go home at 5 pm since the New Year, and I’ve probably made that goal at least half the time–a pretty big improvement.  I’ve also resolved not to work every Saturday this year, and no Sundays at all unless I’m teaching a class that’s of three days duration or longer. 

I don’t expect I’ll be doing any less work; in fact, I’m at home right now writing this column, and I do a lot of writing and class planning at home in the evenings or the wee hours of the morning. 

I’ve always been well organized, and I’m a stickler for punctuality, but even so, I’ve felt the need recently to take back control of some of my time.  Clients are the reason for our day, not an interruption of it, but I’ve started noticing how many other things that are interruptions are eating into my time.  Telemarketers call my office numerous times a day, in spite of the fact I’m on the do-not-call list.  People walk in the door trying to sell me something, in spite of the sign in red letters that says “no soliciting.”

I’m a plain-spoken person and I can be tactless at times.  I do try to control myself with clients and I don’t think I’ve ever been tactless in that area, but I’ve been catching myself getting a little testy with the uninvited callers and unwelcome solicitors, especially when they’re repeat offenders.  I’ve blocked calls, I’ve hung up on them, I’ve walked off and left them talking to the air while I left the phone off the hook; I’ve been a smart-aleck and asked them to give me their number so I could call back and bother them at an inconvenient time.  I’ve learned to say “So, I see you decided to ignore my no soliciting sign” in a voice that would make the wicked witch of the west cringe when someone walks in and starts their sales pitch.

My priority is taking care of the clients in my business, and taking care of the business end of my business.  I’m the maid and the laundry person, the receptionist, the bookkeeper and the insurance filer, in addition to being a massage therapist.  If you’re just starting out in business for yourself, chances are you’re doing all or most of those things too.  My office is spotless, but I can’t make the same claim about my house.  I just tell people I’m saving those cobwebs for the Halloween party.

While I think most people can relate to my irritation with telemarketers and unwelcome salespeople, I try to bear in mind that they’re people just like me who are trying to make a living; they just happen to have a job that irritates a lot of people. I wonder how many times a day the average telemarketer gets hung up on or cursed at.  I imagine their day is a lot different from yours and mine.  We’re used to our customers thanking us and singing our praises for making them feel better.

In the interest of promoting massage while practicing effective time management, I have decided not to hang up on telemarketers or be rude to unwelcome salespeople any more.  Instead, I’ll just interrupt them and ask them if they’ve ever had a massage.  Then I’ll start talking about the benefits of it until they get irritated and walk out or hang up on me. That’ll fix ‘em.

Peace & Prosperity,

Laura Allen

Posted on January 27th, 2008 by Laura Allen
Filed under: General