Pilates Business Podcast

The Truth About Time Management No One Tells Studio Owners

• Seran Glanfield • Season 22 • Episode 219

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In this powerful episode of The Pilates Business Podcast, host Seran Glanfield challenges the traditional time management talk and dives deep into how studio owners can regain control of their time and energy. Instead of chasing productivity hacks and color-coded calendars, Seran explores the rhythms of life and business and how to align your schedule with what truly matters. 


From the burnout that comes with doing all the things to the real secret behind balance (spoiler: it's rhythm, not perfection), this episode is a must-listen for any boutique fitness business owner feeling overwhelmed, stretched too thin, or just plain exhausted. 


Discover how to protect your energy, set meaningful priorities, and delegate like a boss so you can build a Pilates studio (or yoga or barre business) that supports your life—not consumes it.

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Speaker 1:

Are you managing your time or is your time managing you? If your days are a nonstop loop of teaching admin and really quick to-dos, only to just crash at the end of the day wondering what it is that you actually did, then this episode is for you. We're talking about the truth behind time management, not the productivity hacks or the color-coded planners, but how to actually make your calendar work with your energy, your season of life and what actually matters to you, because if you're feeling burnt out or overwhelmed or wondering if you're ever going to catch up, it might not just be about time management. It might also be to do with prioritization, and that's what we're talking about today.

Speaker 2:

Well, hi there, I'm Saren Glanfield. I'm a business and marketing strategist just for boutique fitness studio owners like you. If you're ready to be inspired and make a bigger impact, you're in the right place. All you need are a few key strategies, the right mindset and some support along the way. Join me as I share the real life insights that will help you grow a sustainable and profitable studio. This is the Pilates Business Podcast.

Speaker 1:

Well, hey there, and welcome back to the Pilates Business Podcast. I'm so glad you're here, because today's episode is one that I think every entrepreneur honestly needs to hear, and I've been coaching and consulting studio owners for well over a decade and, on all the hundreds, if not thousands, of conversations that I've had with studio owners, this topic certainly is an important one to cover, to understand and to understand how it impacts the way that you build and grow your business. Because we're talking today about effective time management and not just about just plugging things in the calendar, but actually about really balancing your business and your life, because when we're building a business like we're building, it's not just about putting in the hours from nine to five and walking out the door. This business is often a part of you, a part of your life. So, before your brain jumps to productivity apps and maybe those 4am morning routines, no, no, no, no. We're going to go a little bit deeper than that and probably be a bit more real than that and realistic, because what I know and what I've observed from working with hundreds of studio owners is that it's not about finding the time to do more, it's not about just doing more, it's also about doing what matters doing less of what drains you and doing more of what fuels you and fuels your business. And the chances are that if you are running a studio, you're marketing, you're managing emails and inboxes and messages, you're fixing the stereo when it breaks, you're in it all right.

Speaker 1:

And while I know that you are so incredibly passionate about the movement that you're teaching and about the quality of the movement you're teaching, your energy isn't infinite and at some point, even the most passionate, most dedicated, most motivated studio owner will hit a wall, and what that looks like is feeling totally exhausted but feeling perhaps too guilty to take a day off. Or maybe you keep telling yourself that next month it will calm down, but reality is that you know that it never will. Or perhaps your business is running right, but you just wake up every day feeling less and less energized by it. So I want to talk a bit more today with all of you and talk through why it's not just about managing your time, but it's also about managing your energy, and I think that is actually way more powerful way to approach this than just thinking about your calendar and hours in the calendar. We're also going to talk about things that are truly the real things that impact our time, which is that different seasons of life and different seasons of business are going to require different rhythms. And I want to talk you through how you can perhaps more consciously choose your priorities, instead of perhaps just letting that urgency and putting out the fires really dictate where you spend your time and energy. All right, so let's get into it.

Speaker 1:

I think you know one of the things that I have learned is as a business owner myself and as someone who I think has quite sort of, and I think you know one of the things that I have learned is as a business owner myself and as someone who I think has quite sort of, and I think many entrepreneurs do, and I think perhaps this is a very a trait that is common to many Pilates teachers and studio owners is that you know we are high achieving people and I think that when we think about time management, oftentimes I think the downfall or the pitfall that we see eventually happen is that we treat every hour as the same. So many a lot of the advice out there says, you know, block out chunks of time, which I recommend you do do. But there is a kind of a caveat with that, because it's not just about perhaps moving around these blocks of time on your calendar or like Lego blocks In real life. Not all hours are created equal. I know this. You know this.

Speaker 1:

If you think about your day and you think about when you have the most energy in your day, some of you will find that is at 7 am and some of you will find that that is at 7 pm. Me, I am a morning person. I will say very often to my family you know, if we've got to talk things, big important decisions to make, talk big important things through, you know, don't even think about asking me the question after 6pm, because my brain just doesn't work. But the morning, if you're here and talking to me at 7am, I am all all, all engines are firing, and so you might find too that there's a big difference between your 9am brain and your 4pm brain. Maybe those classes in the evenings are more challenging for you than the ones in the mornings, and if you're trying to then perhaps log into QuickBooks and update all of your stuff in there at, you know, 8pm gosh, that's going to be just really challenging, right?

Speaker 1:

And so we want to think about not just our availability but also our energy, and it's important to take the time to think about, okay, when do I feel most creative, when do I crash, and what drains me versus fills me up? Now you don't need a perfectly mapped out day, but it is helpful to just acknowledge and have awareness for the dips and the highs that you have around your energy and when, in the day and the week and the month even, you feel strongest for different types of tasks. So, as you go about the next day or week, think about when your energy is at its peak and what type of work you want to be doing with that time. Notice when you feel sharp or when you feel sluggish, when you're more perhaps inclined to take on the challenging work and perhaps, if you can begin to build your most important tasks around that energy, not just the sort of open space on your calendar. So you want to be aware of your energy and perhaps not treat every hour the same your energy and perhaps not treat every hour the same.

Speaker 1:

Now, the second myth I hear a lot is that this of this idea of balance, and the idea is that if everything is in perfect balance and you have that perfect work-life balance, every day is going to be fabulous and perfect, but I think one of the things that is interesting about even using the word balance is that if you are balancing, it is something that is, you know, perhaps shifting a little bit here and there. Right, if you're balancing on one leg it is. You probably are moving a little bit to sort of keep that sort of happening, if we want to call it. That is somewhat similar. There are going to be shifts, there's going to be small changes that need to be made on a very regular basis to mean that you are effectively perhaps prioritizing the things that you need to prioritize. And so maybe it's not about balance, but perhaps it's more about a rhythm, and there are likely to be seasons where you are building and perhaps extending yourself a little bit more than you would like, and then there are seasons where you are in a different energy mode, where you're perhaps re-energizing or resting, or perhaps seasons of hustle and seasons of sort of that recalibration.

Speaker 1:

We talk about this a lot inside of Thrive because I think, if we approach business as a constant push and push and push and push for those of you who want to be in business and have your business for years to come. That's an extremely draining approach. So there are going to be seasons and I encourage you to think about your business as being in seasons of, perhaps, growth seasons and then stabilization, and the same thing is going to be true when we think about how that fits in with your life as well. There are going to be seasons in your life where there is a lot going on and there are going to be seasons in your life where perhaps you have more energy to give to your business, and every season requires a little bit of a different boundaries, different set of boundaries, perhaps, more than likely, different set of goals and possibly even a different way that you show up in your business as well. So if you just opened your second or your third location, you're in a building season. You're focused on filling that studio, pushing and pulling, I should say, more clients in the door. You're in a high energy season. If you're, perhaps, in a stage where your business is on a consistent growth pattern and you have got your teachers and there are various things that are constantly kind of becoming up, yes, but things are feeling pretty stable, then you're in a season of stabilization and there is no wrong season to be in, as long as you are happy with the results and outcomes that you're getting in your business. So maybe after you finish listening to this, or as you listen to this, just have a little think about what season of life and business you're in right now and perhaps then be mindful of how you might want to set your expectations and your schedule to match that season. So we're all going to be in different seasons and that's totally fine. It's what makes the world go around.

Speaker 1:

Now the other thing I see that often happens with many, many business owners, no matter what stage of business they're in, is that you might find yourself in constant reaction mode. That is where maybe a teacher is calling in sick last minute, you need to do a last minute reschedule, you have a client that just throws off your whole morning because of something that they say, you've gotten emails that you need to respond to, you've got to fix the Wi-Fi. You know you're always adjusting and firefighting, and that can make everything feel urgent, in fact, when the more that we sit in a reactive mode, the more we see everything as being urgent and important, and in that situation it's really a challenge to step off of that hamster wheel, but it is so powerful when you get the time out of your business to do that, and that's often what it takes, because you don't need more time in those situations. It's often about prioritizing what matters most to your business and knowing how to tackle that list of to-do things and what is going to make you feel really accomplished in perhaps doing those things that need to get done and can only be done by you and then letting go of some of those other things. And so it's important to just to take the time to think about what matters most and then protect that list of just those priorities like the best that you can, and so you want to be only saying yes to things that matter, and it's absolutely fine to say no to things that you are not excited about, because if you're saying yes to fixing the printer instead of planning your next open house, you might be missing out on growth opportunities, right, and that truly is a choice, okay. So it's really important to think about how you're going to manage your time and energy around some non-negotiables. Maybe it's an hour or two hours of time focused only on studio growth, and maybe there is another set of hours or time or people to delegate to who can take on some of the tasks that perhaps can be done by others, can take on some of the tasks that perhaps can be done by others, and then your job, your only job, is to meet those priorities, not to squeeze them in after everything else has been done. Okay, so conscious prioritization is really, really important, and I think this is something that we do really well. We help studio owners to do really well inside of Thrive. Because we help studio owners to do really well inside of Thrive, because we help them to not just set goals but to consider how they fit within the bigger picture of where they're heading with their business and then how to prioritize various different ideas that they get along the way when it comes to building and growing their business.

Speaker 1:

The next one oh, I'm not sure you're going to like this. It's all about those who are trying to be the hero, and what I mean by that is that if you're the only one who knows how to run the schedule, how to respond to messages, how to set up new offers in your software, then you are the bottleneck, and doing it all will only lead to burnout. Truly and I've been there, you guys I know how easy it is to say it's okay, I'll just do it. It's okay, I'll take care of it, because when you're in it showing or talking to someone else about how to do it, showing someone else how to do it can take a little bit longer than you have available to you at that moment and it is ultimately unsustainable to do all the things and be the only one who can do all the things. You're smarter than that, right, and that means that systems and delegation and having people around you to help you will only help you to be more productive and will only help lead to more growth.

Speaker 1:

Years ago, I realized very quickly that I was not able to put more hours into my business than I was at that moment, but my business needed more hours from me and I had. I remember very clearly sitting in the car and talking to my husband at the time and getting really sort of expressing my frustration and all of the things, and I realized no, this is not about me trying to add more into my business, not add more hours to my business. It's actually about me finding. Not about me trying to add more into my business, not add more hours to my business. It's actually about me finding people to help me to add more hours to my business. Other people's hours can be added to my business and guess what? We'll get to the same place.

Speaker 1:

And so we have to stop thinking that we are the only one who can do the things and start to look for ways to ask and find other folks to come into our business and be able to step into some of those tasks and responsibilities as well. And when you do that, it creates this quite significant shift and that means that you step out of being the to doer and start to be able to be more visionary, to lead your business forward, because you're not stuck as much in every single piece of the day-to-day and you will still get stuck into some of it, for sure, but it's not going to be everything that you are doing. So think about all the things that you've done this week, all the tasks you've done in a week, and then think about which of these are things that only I can do, and then perhaps think about which of these can I let go of or which of these can I give to someone else and I know that we sometimes have hangups because perhaps there are things that we don't like to do and we feel badly about asking someone else to do it. But absolutely other people will enjoy doing some of the things that you least like to do, and so it's not about doing less because you have to. It's actually about being able to do more for your business overall because you can, and when you bring other people in, it only helps you and your business to grow. So I would encourage you to look for ways to expand the load onto other people, to share the load onto other people and be able to then expand into your role as a leader.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I also want to just touch on really quickly before we wrap up this session about some of the other things that happens as a business owner when it comes to your time and your schedule, and I know that when we are in this industry, in this business, and you're building a relationship-based business, you know your clients really, really well and inside out, we often find that clients ask us to do things and we have a really hard time saying no, this is sneaky right. You end up taking on that extra client because they begged you. You did their intro offer. You had all good intentions of maybe handing them over to another teacher. But they were like but I really enjoyed working with you and you know that if you squeeze things in and move things around, you can make it happen for them.

Speaker 1:

And so you say yes, and maybe you skip lunch that day, or maybe you skip the school pickup that day and you hire a babysitter instead, and maybe you take on that extra client here and there, and maybe you add that extra hour at the weekend and all of a sudden, before you know it, you have moved away from the thing that you most wanted to be able to do, which possibly was having a little bit more freedom in your life. Maybe you cancel plans because you now need or want to or have to host a workshop or a teacher training, and maybe or maybe you even feel badly about taking any time off at all, and so you never do. And this kind of guilt is not helpful for you and probably also not helpful for your business growth and possibly not even helpful as helpful as you might think for your team as well. Because when you're building your calendar around guilt, what ultimately happens maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next week, but down the road is you start to feel a little bit resentful Resentful, perhaps, towards those clients who perhaps begged you to open up your calendar and then they late cancel. Or maybe you feel a little bit resentful to your business as a whole, because now, all of a sudden, you're working more hours than you ever anticipated or wanted to. Maybe you feel resentful towards other teachers who can just come and go as they please from your business and all of a sudden you're left to do all the things.

Speaker 1:

And so when you build your business and your calendar and what you're spending time on around guilt, it is not serving you, and so it's really important that you set boundaries for where you want to spend time in your business and you build a business and a calendar and a schedule that is aligned with what matters to you. When you operate from that place, you have more energy to give to your business. To say no is scary and maybe feel like you shouldn't or you can't, but you can, and it's important too, because the most important thing is not that you show up for that client tomorrow, but that you show up for all of the people that you serve in your business next month and next year. And so when you operate your business from a place of alignment, you serve your clients better, you serve your team better and you serve your business better. You lead better and you'll find that you'll be happier as a result, and happy studio owners tend to do better in business.

Speaker 1:

So let's quickly recap what we covered today. Number one time management isn't about moving pieces around on the calendar. It's actually about managing your energy as well, and I'd encourage you to think about how you can match your natural rhythms from days to weeks to months and into the way that you work, and not just manage your calendar based on availability. I also want you to acknowledge that your life is important outside of the studio and there are seasons to that as well, and if you want to build a business that stays with you for a long time like I know many of you do and you want that business to grow and to fulfill you and to be sustainable, then it's important to know that you'll have seasons in life and in business, and they may be in sync sometimes, and sometimes they are not, but it's important to be aware of that season so that you can perhaps set, or even reset, expectations that truly support you.

Speaker 1:

I'd also encourage you to consciously choose your top priorities, and what that looks like in practice is that each week and each month, you are recognizing where you want to spend your time. You are proactively designing your task list or your to-do list and perhaps the time you have available to that, so that you're not in constant reaction mode. Right, and the chaos and the overwhelm comes when we don't know where to start and we don't know where to focus. And if you ever have any ever hard time with that and it can be really hard to choose and decide this is where being a part of Thrive really is so helpful, because this is the type of thing that we help you navigate each and every week, help you to manage your time, manage your priorities and help you figure out where you should focus to help you reach your goals. And finally, you do not need to be a hero. What you need is this system and a little bit of delegation and, above all, you need to be able to say no, and that last one is really important, and sometimes that's even saying no to yourself, but often that's saying no to some other folks who are asking more of you than you really are able to give, and so I want you to show up in your business as your best self. I want you to show up with energy and enthusiasm, because that is what will ripple through. It's contagious to others around you, and so if you show up annoyed, frustrated, exhausted, that also is contagious, and so I encourage you to show up as your best self, and if you need to set some boundaries around your time and your energy in order for that to happen, then that is what you have to do Now.

Speaker 1:

Studio ownership for the studios that I get to work with is a long game. You're building something beautiful, something that is sustainable, something that is fulfilling, something that has enormous ripple effects and in the best way possible to those around you, and so I'd encourage you to find ways to claim your energy and create a schedule that honors your priorities, and stop feeling like you're on a treadmill, sprinting or a hamster wheel that never stops. And this is exactly what we help you to do inside Thrive, because we really help you to redefine how you manage your time and help you to build a business that supports you and your life, not the other way around. This is how we really make that shift from being in a place of overwhelm into being in a place where you're excited about what's possible and we create that momentum towards the results and outcomes that you want from your business. So, if that's more income, if that's more time back, if that's time off, if that's a bigger team, whatever that looks like for you.

Speaker 1:

So if today's episode really resonated with you, then come join us inside of Thrive. You can learn more about what is inside of Thrive at spring3.com. Forward slash Thrive. And if this episode sparked a little something inside of you that you would like to share with your fellow studio owners and teachers, please, please, do share it with anyone who really needs to hear it, because together we will rise faster. I'll see you next week.

Speaker 2:

Did you love this episode and want more? Head to spring3.com and check out my free resources that will help you run a profitable and fulfilling studio business. And before you go, one last reminder there is no one way to do what you do, only your way. So whatever it is that you want to do, create or offer, you've got this. Thanks again for joining me today and have a wonderful rest of your day.