The Barkroom Chat

Busy Season Survival: Time Management Tips for Home-Based Dog Groomers

• Linda • Episode 34

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0:00 | 20:07

Busy season can be exciting, profitable, and rewarding—but it can also feel overwhelming when you're juggling appointments, client communication, cleaning, admin, marketing, and family life.

In this episode, we're sharing 10 practical time management strategies to help home-based dog groomers stay organised, reduce stress, and avoid burnout during their busiest periods.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

✔ Why planning your week ahead can save hours of stress

✔ How time blocking helps you stay focused

✔ The hidden cost of constantly checking messages

✔ Why simple systems are a groomer's secret weapon

✔ How batching tasks can dramatically improve productivity

✔ The importance of building buffer time into your schedule

✔ Why saying "no" is sometimes the best business decision

✔ How to use the "Top Three" method to stay focused

✔ Why breaks are essential during busy periods

✔ The difference between being busy and being productive

Key Takeaway

Busy season doesn't have to mean working longer hours or feeling constantly overwhelmed. With a few simple systems and boundaries in place, you can create a business that remains profitable while protecting your time, energy, and wellbeing.

Resources Mentioned

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SPEAKER_00

Hey there, welcome to the Barcrown Chat Podcast, the show for women who dream of building a thriving dog grooming business from home. Whether you're just starting out, already seeing clients, or somewhere in between, this is your go-to space for real talk, practical tips, a little bit of gossip, and a whole lot of encouragement. I'm Linda, the founder of Glossy Pop Academy, a former dog groomer, turned business mentor, and your biggest cheerleader. Let's turn your passion for pups into a profitable, feel-good, successful business that you've always dreamed of. Grab a cuppa, get coffee, and let's dive in. Hello and welcome back to the Backroom Chat Podcast. My name is Linda, your host, and at Glossy Pop Academy, we help women build successful, sustainable, home-based dog grooming businesses without the overwhelm. I am so glad you're here today because today we're talking about something that every groomer struggles with at some point, especially when the diary starts filling up, and that is time management. Now, if you've ever found yourself looking at the clock at six o'clock in the evening and you're wondering where did the day go while still having messages to answer, paperwork to do, and a mountain of towels to wash, then this episode is for you. Busy season can be amazing for businesses. More bookings, more income, more opportunities, but they can also leave us feeling stressed, exhausted, and completely overwhelmed if we're not careful. So today I'm sharing with you 10 practical time management tips that will help you stay organized, reduce stress, and make the most of the busy period without burning yourself out. Let's jump in. So, number one, and it's probably my biggest tip is plan your week before it starts. One of the biggest things that has helped me over the years is taking a look at the time ahead, whether that be the week ahead, the month ahead, the season ahead, or the even the next quarter or six months of the year. In fact, that's what I'm doing right now. Now is June, so I'm looking at the next half of the year of what's coming up, not just in my business, but in my home as well, because I am also a stay-at-home mom, as well as working from home with Glassy Pop Academy, and this means I have to be super organized or I'm gonna burn myself out. On top of this, we are moving house, so yeah, there's just so much going on, and then my health and everything else that I have to be on top of it. So, one thing I'm doing right now, I'm actually looking at the rest of the year, and I'm saying, right, what do we have coming up each month, and how can I make my life easier now? So, even things like planning my son's second birthday, his birthday's in August. This week I booked the cake, booked where we're going to have it, and I told the people that I would like to be there, um, that it was happening, and you might say, Oh my god, that's like 10 weeks early. But to me, I love that if someone comes to me and says we have a birthday or an event coming up and it's on a few months' time, I'm like, Brilliant, I can work everything around that. So I think it's just nice to do for other people too, and also this takes a load off of me. So this is just something simple and it's something personal, obviously, not business related, but truly, I do this all the time. I think how can I make my life easier next week, next month, next quarter, next six months. So rather than waiting until Monday and reacting to whatever comes your way, spend 20 to 30 minutes at the end of each week just planning the next one. Look at your diary. How many dogs have you got booked in? Which are your busiest days? Do you have family commitments, appointments, or anything else that needs your attention? Because I know most home-based dog grooming businesses like myself are also running their family and household at the same time. When are you going to do your admin? When are you going to rest? Because that has to be put in too, because we all know that that's the first thing to go if you don't actually, you know, make a point to plan that out. Simply having the plan will make you feel more in control. I was literally talking about this today with one of my besties, and I was saying how I was, you know, trying to plan the rest of the year basically because of so much going on, and to make sure we can fit it all in and that it works financially and all this kind of stuff that we're trying to do. And I literally said to her, I actually feel so much calmer and so much more in control now because I have a plan for everything. I'm I know where we're headed, you know. So even if I didn't, you know, make those steps for my son's birthday, I would have the steps written down that I needed to take. So I did go ahead with those steps, but there are other things like you know, you might think I'm crazy, but like Halloween, or we have a trip coming up in November, or then even Christmas. I am planning all of those and writing down lists of all the things that need to be done because this means over the next few months I can work on that and I can make sure that they're all in place so that when I get to those occasions, I'm not running around like a headless chicken, or I'm not panicked and overwhelmed, and I have so much decision fatigue just because I didn't take the time a bit earlier to do it. So, yeah, I was literally saying this to her today that I feel more in control and so much calmer just by having this simple plan in place, and it's exactly the same for your business. I actually have to sit down and do this for my business because I haven't done it yet, and that's why I think I'm more talking about the personal side because that's what I was working on the last couple of days. But my plan is before the month ends, so maybe next week I'm going to take a few hours and I'm going to sit down, I'm going to look at each month, I'm going to look at what I want to, you know, provide for you guys. I want to have a look at what I want to be available for, and you know what I really want uh Glossy Bop Academy to achieve and to help you with over the next six months. And once I do that, I know that I'm going to feel so much better about everything. Great things don't just happen, they don't just happen by accident. I mean, don't get me wrong, great things do happen by accident, of course they do. But if you have actual goals or you have actual things you want to do in your life, whether that be business or personal, or things you want to achieve, people you want to help, you know, again being business or personal, more often than not, those things aren't gonna just happen. You have to make them happen, and in order to make them happen, you have to have clarity and you have to know where you're going. And this is why I always talk about planning, planning, planning, and it's something that I will always talk about planning and goal setting. So, number two, I'm gonna talk about time blocking your day. This is another tip. Instead of trying to do everything all at once, assign different jobs for specific times of the day. For example, you could have certain blocks that are dedicated to your grooming appointments, and then you could have other blocks that are reserved for admin tasks like returning messages, booking appointments, admin. Then you could have another block which would probably be cleaning, deep cleaning, or resetting for the next day, and that would be in the evening time, and in the morning time you could have a small block, 30 minutes, where you check everything and make sure you are ready and set up for the day. When every task has a place in your day, you actually spend less time wondering what to do next and more time actually getting things done because you're setting a routine. I always like to talk about setting systems so you don't have to make every decision every time because our brains are just they're not set up to remember every single thing about every single day that you need to get done, and they're not designed to make one million decisions a day either. Whether the decision is whether to use an oatmeal shampoo or a regular shampoo, or whether the decision is to take that beard shorter on the schnauser or not, is still a decision, and all these decisions, no matter how small, are filling your brain and just exhausting you. So if you have systems set up that tell your brain and trigger your brain automatically to do these things without even thinking about it, then you are on to a winner. It's gonna save you so much time, so much energy, you will won't be losing things all of the time. You know, you won't be chasing your tail all the time, you won't be trying to remember all the time if you actually did something or not. And I actually have a tool to help you, it's called the Glossy Pop Blueprint, and I'm gonna leave a link below, and basically it's all your systems, SOPs, um, checklists for your day, and you will get them in three forms. One is where they're all made up for you, two is the editable version where you can add all your own in, and three is a completely blank version that you can just write yourself or edit them on Canva. All you have to do is print these out, however many you need of each, and laminate them, and you can reuse them every single day, and you no longer have to think about anything because you can just check your list. You're like, oh, did I do that? Oh, yeah, it's just there. You don't have to remember every single thing you need to do for every single portion of your day. So I'm gonna leave that link below if you think that's something that might help you, and you can check that out. Number three is stop checking messages constantly. I know this one can be difficult as business owners, we feel like we should be responding instantly, but every time you stop a groom to answer a message, you're interrupting your focus. Those interruptions add up quickly, they can lead to time loss, they can lead to mistakes being made, things being forgotten. So instead, choose specific times throughout the day to check these messages or return calls. I also highly recommend that you set up an automatic reply letting clients know when they can expect a response because this means they are not thinking that they're being ghosted by you or they're not gonna find another groomer because you didn't reply to them. So if you've got an automatic message saying I will reply between these times in the day, then they're gonna be like, Oh, well, she'll reply to me later. I don't need to find another groomer, you know, and message them or call them instead, or I don't need to, you know, think have a negative first impression of this groomer, thinking that they ghosted me for like the whole day. Most people are happy to wait a few hours because they don't need their dog groomed instantly, so they're happy to wait until the evening time to get the reply from you. So, tip four is again create those simple systems, and this comes to when you think about repetitive tasks over and over again. So, have a system for appointment reminders, have a system for welcome emails, or have a system for go-home bags or newsletters, have a system for payment requests, follow-up messages. Any of these could be templated or automated. So, what I would do for frequently asked questions is I would create in my notes app different replies to different messages, and that way, instead of having to type everything out all the time, I used to just copy and paste the one that I needed and popped it in as a reply, and this saved me so much time. Just remember this every system you create removes one more thing you need to remember. So if you already have your SOP user checklist, the Glassy Pop Blueprint, again, I will leave that link below. You've got all your physical task reminders there, but if you can have automated tasks done as well, then that's another thing that you can take away. So, for example, with your social media, you will obviously do day-to-day before and afters, but any other posts like you know, announcement posts, general interest, um, entertainment posts, any of that that can be done before time, you can do that ahead of time, schedule them out throughout the month, bam, you're done. So, again, with your marketing, your email campaigns, anything like that, you can do them all beforehand and schedule them out so they go out on time. During busy season, this can be a huge win for you. Number five is batch similar tasks together. Switching between tasks, especially on a long day, is exhausting. Instead, group similar jobs together, like answer all your messages at once, put that block in place and answer them all at once. Have that automated message telling them when you're gonna do that. Do your bookkeeping in one dedicated session, schedule out your social media content in one single sitting, and like I said, sit down and plan the months ahead and do that in one single sitting if you can. The less task switching you do, the more productive you'll be. Number six, build a buffer into your schedule. I used to always do this whenever I could. Majority of the time I would build a buffer in either before or after each appointment, because I don't have staff, I am me, and I am only me. So I did get caught out I'd say once or twice, I can remember off the top of my head. But in general, if you put in that buffer, you will not be caught out. Let's be honest, dogs, their owners do not stick to a schedule, it could be on your side, you know. You might have a matted coat that takes longer than expected, or a nervous puppy that needs more patience, or it could be on their side and they are just late and they have poor timekeeping skills. But adding that buffer in between appointments gives you that extra breathing room and prevents your whole day from falling apart. If the appointment ran on time, I would use that extra time in between to either go to the bathroom or eat something, depending on how much time I was in between. Um, or I would then post my social media before and after. Um, I would also use that time to do a bit of more cleanup, I would also use that time to um check I had everything available for me. You know, if I had more dogs coming in, make sure I had their go-home bags, or if they were new clients, they had any forms they needed them to fill in. You know, even five or ten minutes can make a huge difference. I used to put in at least 15 minutes to half an hour buffer in between each dog. Number seven, learn to say no. This is an incredibly important one. A full diary can feel so exciting. But squeezing in just one more dog and then another and then another often leads to exhaustion. I've talked about this before, we do not want to be busy fools, so we don't want to be taking in so many dogs that you're burnt out, and then everything else suffers. The dogs aren't getting the same quality grooms, owners are going to start complaining, you're exhausted, you know, you forget things, you make mistakes. You have to remember you are a business. If you are burnt out, everything suffers. It's okay to have limits, it's okay to tell clients you that your next available appointment is next week. You know, protecting your energy is protecting your business. When you're on top form, you're giving the client what they deserve and what you want to give them from your business. But absolutely everything suffers if you are so drained, so exhausted, just so much decision fatigue, like you can't think straight. How are you going to produce the quality of work that you want to display for your business? You really need to ask yourself when that appointment comes in if it is worth everything you're going to sacrifice in order to do that one dog. And if you do have the time, maybe you've had a cancellation. If you are not burnt out and you're feeling good, maybe take the extra dog, you know, especially if it's helping someone, you know, go for it. But you can't make it a consistent thing because then the only person who's losing is you. Tip number eight, focus on your top three priorities. I love this one, do it all the time. Do it again in my personal life as well as my business life. And every morning you just ask yourself, what are my top three priorities that I need to accomplish today? Just three, not twenty, not everything on your to-do list, the three that matter the most. The reason I like this is because I will probably put down ten things on my list I need to do, but I will make a priority for one, two, three to be the top three. And if I get those done, I know I'm doing okay. They are my like goalposts, we'll say, to make sure like the day isn't falling apart essentially. If I get those three things done, I am happy, and the rest hopefully get done too. This simple habit keeps you focused on meaningful work instead of getting distracted by less important tasks. Number nine, take your breaks. I know busy season can make it tempting to skip lunch and power through, but the reality is that tired groomers make mistakes. You know, the tired groomers work more slowly, they enjoy their work less. So please eat, drink water, stretch. Just take a few minutes during the day. You deserve that. And this is coming from someone who didn't do that, who powered through, who got burnt out, and ended up in hospital. So I am trying to impart my knowledge to you and my wisdom, and basically, don't do what I did. Um, you deserve that, you deserve to eat and drink, and you know, take a few minutes to breathe a little bit of fresh air and clear your head. And there are loads of ways to do that to stay hydrated, you know, have your bottle with you with a closed top so you can drink from it while you're working. There are lots of nutritious foods that you could have in between dogs, you know, there's loads of ways to do it. So please, you know, focus on your health, focus on your energy because your business will benefit from it too. And number 10. Remember that busy doesn't always mean productive. I've said it before, I'll say it again. We do not want to be busy fools. This is probably the biggest lesson of all. Being busy is not the goal. Building a successful, sustainable business is the most successful groomers aren't necessarily the ones working the longest hours. They're often the ones who've created systems, boundaries, and routines that allow them to work efficiently and enjoy their lives outside of work too, because their business runs smoothly, and that's what we're aiming for. So there you have it. There are my tips. I hope these tips have given you some ideas for making busy season feel a little less overwhelming. Remember, you do not need to implement everything at once. I say this all the time. Choose one or two changes that feel manageable and just start there. Small improvements consistently applied create the biggest results. So if you enjoyed today's episode, please share with another groomer who might need a little encouragement right now. And if you'd like more support, practical resources, training to help your business grow, then be sure to visit Glossy Pop Academy, and I will leave those links as well below for you in the show notes. So thank you for spending part of your day with me. And until next time, take care of yourself, take care of those dogs, and remember, together we can change the world one dog at a time. Bye friends. Thank you so much for tuning in to the Bark Room Chat Podcast. If today's episode gave you a little boost or a new idea, I'd love for you to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with a fellow groomer who needs to hear it. And don't forget, you can grab my free resources and join the Glossybump Academy group anytime for more support on your journey. Until next time, keep going, keep growing. You've got this. I'm cheering you on every step of the way, and remember, together we can change the world. One dog at a time.