Thread: Time Management for the "Working" Dancer

I suppose this is a spinoff of the "What is a Professional?" thread, or at least roughly inspired by issues and sentiments raised in that discussion.

I'm in the pressure cooker once again. Work is stressing the living daylights out of me. Dance barely feels like a vacation, either. I'm dealing with the insanity of Open House season, the stress of working with subcontractors, micromanaging clients and crazy realtors, and this guilty feeling in the back of my mind that my "work" work is suffering because I can't stop obsessing about creating a successful dance business. Meanwhile, I come home from work with a few hours to play "catch-up" in writing my website copy, researching new venues, altering costumes, and practicing.....I'm tapped out just typing all this.

I know I will do well for myself as a dancer, not in "superstar" terms, but in the sense of bringing something sensational to the table and getting tons of weekend gigs. It's just overwhelming to squeeze a day's work, so to speak, into what is realistically 4-5 hours at the end of a day.

My question is for the "working" dancers, especially those who have successfully landed packed studios and ample restaurant and private gigs: how did you make it happen? How do you organize and maximize your free time for productivity? How do you find time to network/schmooze with restaurant and studio owners without necessarily spending all day chatting via e-mail with them during your 9-5? And, most importantly, how do you create balance in your life so your dance stresses don't creep into your work day? And how do you find time to do fun, non dance-related things so you don't have to spend all weekend playing catch-up? What is the secret?

Time/stress management divas, talk to me!

Lisa

By "working dancers" I'm guessing you mean dancers who have a FT day job? And not dancers who work FT as dancers?

I feel your pain. I have a successful job in IT, I teach, I perform, and I vend. One top of thsi all, I have an 18 month old son! Adding all my work + dance + husband + kid is very hard on me. I have had to limit my dance activities (by choice) because I do not want to miss out on my son's growing up. I will tell you what I tell all my friends - think about your priorities. Mine are in the following order:

1 - God
2 - Family and friends
3 - Work
4 - the Dance

3 and 4 kind of swing back and forth but I have to realize that my money is made from work. That is the way it goes.

I balance it all very carefully. Yes - it sucks sometimes that I need to turn down gigs occasionally but I need to stay sane. I need time to exhale.

Sorry - going on a rant...

Pace yourself! When you're trying to start a business part-time around a full-time career, you need to keep it part-time. Keep things ultra simple and let it build over time.

For instance -- writing website copy -- just do it a little at a time. Start out with your name, an e-mail address and a photo. You can add more as time allows. Or not. Don't set up a site that requires constant updating or you'll drive yourself nuts.

Same thing with costume alterations. As long as you've got a costume or two that fit, you're good to go for a private party or restaurant gig. I currently have 4 or 5 costumes awaiting alterations or repairs of some kind, but I've also got several that are ready to walk out the door with me on a moment's notice, so I'm not going to obsess over that.

As far as shmoozing for gigs -- I find that restaurant owners are very busy and don't want to chat with me anyway. The best way into most restaurants is through the dance community -- if the other dancers trust you and respect your skills, you can get on the roster. Tracking down newer restaurants is a little trickier and more time consuming, of course, but there's no need to spend time working on that when your day job is crazy. When you have time, do a little searching and contacting. When you don't -- don't. The beauty of having a day job is that you won't starve if you don't dance this week or next.

When I still worked a full-time job, I didn't mess around with restaurants anyway -- there's just not enough money in it. I worked with a singing telegram agent. I let him advertise, run the website, answer the phones, etc. and paid him to do so. All I had to do was show up & dance. It was well worth it to give him a cut.

Classes are the same way. Start with what's manageable and let it build. I started out with one class that had anywhere from one to three people in it, teaching in the back of a new-age store. Things had to grow slowly from there.

I too feel your pain.

If you ever find a solution let me know. I just gave up in the end and that feels sad (not just the busy-ness factor, I had health issues too). I do miss it a lot but it does just kind of take over things ...

Good luck. Find a way.

Kathy xx

I know how you feel. I am doing what Lauren suggested and taking it one day at a time. Yesterday I got a gig offer that I had to turn down because I have a staff retreat that I have to go to. C'est la vie...

It'll work itself out in its own timing. Trust that it will happen.

Originally Posted by aazura

By "working dancers" I'm guessing you mean dancers who have a FT day job? And not dancers who work FT as dancers?

Yes, hence "working" in quotes ..l;, ....but even that is a variable definition. I am technically "working" at my desk, holding down a "real" job (I hate that term, by the way *gag*)....but who am I kidding? I am currently Bhuzzing, am I not?

The thread on definitions of "professional" just goes to show how many different means are out there for making ends meet. No one is right or wrong. Each situation has just its own unique stresses, aggravations, and self-management tricks that must be mastered!

I feel your pain. I am a lawyer by day, and I teach 6 bd classes a week, and gig heavily on weekends. I don't get home most nights until 9 or 10, and then I have to squeeze all the errands and things around the house that I didn't have time to get to during the day in to a tiny 2-3 hour window before I pass out from exhaustion.

It's hard, and my husband hates it. He is constantly complaining about my dancing taking up too much time. But I wouldn't give it up for anything. I won't be able to dance professionally for ever, so I want to squeeze it all in now while I still can!

I make lists - I have tons of lists: day to day lists for things that MUST get done today, longer term lists for the things I need to do asap, and a notebook of the grand-scheme lists, with things that I want to do at some point. That way, if I find myself with a free moment, I consult one of my lists and try to get something checked off!

And I multi-task! I will be taking a long car ride tomorrow, but I'm not driving, so I'm bringing a costume that needs sewing. Never sit still, that's my motto!

I've been there too, and echo what everyone else says about having to limit dance activities when you have a full time day job. It sucks to turn stuff down, but you have to or you're either a) go nuts or b)risk getting fired from your FT job. Or maybe both!

I never got many jobs through schmoozing. The restaurant work I did was from subbing for and/or being scheduled by fellow dancers, and nearly all of my BellyGrams, Private Parties and corporate/community event came to me via my website or word of mouth from past clients. Even though I dance FT now, that's still the case 99% of the time; I'm just not the schmoozey type.

The only suggestion I have on finding free time is cutting back on TV/Internet/Reading. When I was working a day job, I cut out almost all TV, pretty much only Bhuzed on the internet (purely for research purposes, LOL), and sadly, almost completely stopped reading for pleasure. However, this sort of approach can leave you feeling burned out - it sure did me!

I'm giving you the Yodazhia answer: awareness & intention.

Lauren, I think you're right that I need to pop a chill pill, lay off on the caffeine, stop being so hyper, and realize that everything will be cool in the end! It's very much in my disposition to be overly perfectionist and to suffer from Analysis Paralysis and to want everything ASAP. I think it's a Capricorn thing ..l;,

Over the course of a few months, I've been piecing together some good, solid web copy. Thank goodness I've been able to slam through it this week (I forced myself to stay home from the gym for 2 nights. hahaha) and all that will be left are revisions.

The rest is all networking stuff. I'm weird in the sense that I'd much rather create my own venues than try to get in through other dancers. (Nothing against the established venues - I am just an entepreneurial/pioneer type and a bona fide glutton for punishment, I suppose!). I have a few prospects....but dropping in before or after work to talk to owners, when I'm dressed as preppy as humanly possible, would work against my cause. Unless maybe I ditch the pink Polo at 5:00, bring glam attire and a spare pair of false eyelashes, and make the rounds from there. Arrrrrrrgh!

Daniela, I love your idea of the lists. Gonna have to start doing that!

Oh god, web copy. I have two websites to re-do over the next three weeks and I really need to "get my finger" out and get on with them. The sites are built and working and all I need to do is go through five years of photographic portfolio and think of some good web copy. I'm feeling your pain again!

I just received this from Amazon - it has had rave reviews and you have now prompted me to use it for tonight's bedtime reading - thank you for that!

"Web Copy That Sells (the revolutionary formula for creating killer copy every time)", by Maria Veloso. Apologies for not putting in a link, I am feeling a bit non-tecky this evening.

I'll let you know what I think of it if you haven't already read it.

As for actual Time Management, if it hasn't already been suggested, try Steven Covey. He helps you to prioritise and sort out what your goals and objectives are which is key to doing things that will fulfil those goals and priorities rather than take you on an errelevant (if interesting and fun) diversion. The problem with me was that I was getting really frustrated at not being able to do my dancing any justice. No time to rehearse/choreograph new pieces. It was just toooo frustrating.

Hang on in there!
Kathy x

I feel you...I am a Capricorn too....LOL.

'm with Lauren - slow down and *allow* things to happen rather than trying to *force* things to happen.

Also - you need to be sane to manage this whole dual life thing, so: give yourself some *free* time (i.e., time not fretting about dance or other work), to walk in the hills (or whatever local equivalent), nourish relationships with family and friends, read a good book. Stay away from internet and phones for a couple of hours a week. If you don't take care of this side of things, life will come along and give you a swift boot in the behind, and then where will your safety net (friends, family, ability to relax) be? You need that stuff - you might not feel that now, but you do.

There's some accepting stuff to do here too - to balance FT day job and building dance work, you need to *accept* you're going to be multi-tasking A LOT, and that it's going to wear you out (hence need to develop relaxation strategy). Dance stresses are going to creep into the FT workday - accept it.

And - prioritise (someone already said this) - lists are a good way to go. But also decide what's most important and when - because you CAN'T have everything now. Is it more important to nail those gigs, or to alter one adaptable costume that can be used for a range of situations? Prioritise, prioritise, prioritise (I know...easier said than done )

Take deep breaths...it's going to be OK!..g.:

For me, I tend to enjoy the "work" of bellydance so much that it doesn't feel like work to me. It's so different from my IT project manager dayjob. I have decided that my dayjob is how I make money, and bellydance is my passion and my fun - and is not allowed to be "not fun". If it ever got to that point, I would pull back (of course still fulfilling all my commitments and responsibilities). The only conflict now is that my family & friends miss me a bit when I am dancing as much as I have been lately. But it gives me so much joy that I don't think anyone can begrudge me that time.

I have more of the problem where FT job stresses creep into dance. Sometimes after a long work day, I have a hard time letting go of what happened at the office. I could never run from work to a gig directly - I need at least an hour at home to "recover" and switch modes. Lately my job has been so stressful that I don't even want to practice when I get home - I just want to crack open the gin & tonics!

I edit my website sometimes while I'm at work (and obviously come to Bhuz!). Multi-tasking is good.

Yeah, I suppose I'd much rather dance-stress affect my 9-5 than "work" stress take away from my dancing....multi-tasking IS good. I have been known to Bhuz and also to search for costumes, network on MySpace, and edit my web copy either on a slow day when the phones are dead and nobody's in the office, or while I'm on the phone holding for somebody, or during my lunch break .

I know things won't be so stressful when I get this darned photoshoot out of the way, have an operational website, and solidly decide on my new stage name. Of course, I had to wait until I'd been dancing for 5 years to even think about promoting myself....after farting around at my own sluggish pace for that long, suddenly, I'm revved up to make things happen. Go figure.

Once I can kick back and let the results of my promotional blitzkrieg work for me, it'll all be smooth sailing from there. Perhaps, I'll lay low and simply let clients find me for awhile, until I nail down all this P.R. dirty work. Oddly, I've gotten a couple of leads just from being on MySpace and having a look that's very marketable for the club scene....

Thanks for all the great tips and keep 'em coming. Gonna break out 7 Habits of Highly Defective People and all the business self-help classics I snoozed through in my college business classes.

*breathing deeply* Everything will be OK. Oooommmmmmmmmmmm......

Everything will be OK. Some of those self help books are really good despite the genre being scorned by some. But keep it simple. Figure out your goals, define them carefully, make sure it's what YOU want and not what someone else wants, and then just do things that further those goals and don't do things that don't further those goals. Just keep asking yourself the question: what's in it for me? Does this take me towards my goals or take me down a side road to a en? Sounds selfish, but it's your life and it's you living it.

Good luck and here's to a peaceful and settled time ahead for you!
Kathy x
PS that web copy book is fab, I went to bed, read the first two chapters and wrote loads of notes, then lay there not being able to sleep for an hour I was buzzing so much! So far it's recommended.

Oh dear I am having trouble with this editor. Or maybe it's my firewall not displaying certain things on the screen. Tried to type % - - - e-n-d" and it displays just an "e".

Odd.

Capricorn here too. Analysis Paralysis is something I see a lot in my grad students (and used to suffer from a whole lot more than I do these days, but still gets me every once in awhile). I find that this tends to happen when there are too many things that need to/have to get done. One trick that can help to break the log jam is to put some "blinders" on - make yourself pick one item to work on, push the rest of them away/out of your mind, and hunker down to complete the task immediately in front of you. Still find yourself in the midst of "AP" - pick another item and do the same thing. "AP" tends to set in when you look at *everything* that you need to do all at once - the volume of work to be done overwhelms you. Once you accomplish enough single tasks and develop that feeling of positive flow again, then you are over the current hump of work flow stoppage.

I don't "live by lists" (regardless of what some of my colleagues might think), but I certainly couldn't live without them sometimes. One of the side effects of "AP" for me is that items I need to do begin slipping through the cracks. This is the point where I have to stop and make a list of everything that needs to be done (this is usually at the office btw). I also include due dates on everything that has one (to help me maintain focus on priorities). Yeah, I'm a real Capricorn.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

It's very much in my disposition to be overly perfectionist and to suffer from Analysis Paralysis and to want everything ASAP. I think it's a Capricorn thing ..l;,
<snip>
Daniela, I love your idea of the lists. Gonna have to start doing that!