Thread: how to multi task your bellydance business and day job

Just thought I'd start a post so we can share tips on how to multi task your day job with your bellydance job (if you have both) , or if you are a full time dancer/performer with kids, side projects etc.

I work full time as a nurse during the day but do Home - Gypsy wear and belly dance silks mostly at night or during lunch hours. It helps that my nurse job is computer based so I bought a computer that allows me to run job apps and talk on facebook at the same time. For example this morning I was able to complete some online training for work and also created a new album on the website Themes - Gypsy wear and belly dance silks

I like to group errands so if I take the time to leave, I visit people in their homes, pick up my boy, grab dinner, etc all in one trip..

Bought a coupon book from entertainment2011 it's full of discounted food and entertainment..I have a calendar we write which night we are going where for dinner..this helps us organize and prepare for the evening. We also did some research and found out which restaurants in town do specials on which night. For example Red Lion has taco thursdays for $1 taco all you can eat. Can't beat that. Yardhouse has happy hour appetizers, we get a plate of chicken nachos for $5.50 that feeds me and my kid, and the boyfriend too.

With a bit of creativity some activites can be streamlined..I wash veils when I'm doing laundry, or make phone calls while standing in line at the post office.

It's not easy running a full time house , nurse job, business, kid/s but we are good at multi tasking huh? What do you do to make life easier?

I'm not going to lie, I have a fabulous husband who has always loved to cook and is a huge clean freak. This ship would sink without him.
I am also a big fan of time block and chore charts. (teaching my 7 y/o time management and organization skills is like having a root canal)

Partners are a God send! I've been single for a while but couldn't resist the dolphin man (photo below) he is REALLY good about cooking dinner and cleaning up..we don't live together but he visits so we can cook/do laundry and he's really great about playing with Zack (and putting together legos!)

apologies..bragging moment :)

I've had to think about this more since I went back to part-time office work after just doing bellydance business for almost 8 years. I have found automating my bellydance business to be really helpful:

- Encouraging online class payments, set up on TryBooking | Sell Tickets Online. It is Australia based, but I think there would be similar services elsewhere. I also take direct deposit. I now only process over-the-phone credit card payments during the two days I'm in the 'bellydance' office.

- Providing as much info as possible online and encouraging enquiries via email, as I can cut and paste some answers.

- Having my bellydance emails coming through to my other work computer, so I can knock some off during short breaks, and not have to spend hours tackling them after a full day of work.

- iPhone! Can check emails whilst out running errands, and deal with quick queries.

- Not do so much extra for my students, like sourcing music, typing up complicated costume and supplier notes, etc. Where needed, I put links on my facebook fanpage or put permanent articles on my website.

I'm also trying to educate my husband in the joys of housework and cookery, but that's an ongoing process.

Finally, I limit how many gigs I do each weekend to ensure I'm not completely knackered, and make sure they all pay well. No discount or donated gigs for me!

I don't multitask much across types of chores, the closest would be minding the pot while doing computer work or reading while riding the bus. I cannot maintain quality or concentration.

However, I DO multitask a lot across similar tasks. I might decide to sew a lot of stuff using a certain type of fabric or color but different kinds of costume pieces, or put elastic in waistbands and on zills, or make cookies-bread-hummus-chappati-brownies, that sort of thing.

This is hard - if you're working full time in the day and dancing all night - I did that for several years in the '80's, because money just wasn't worth as much so I had to work in the daytime TOO. Plus, I was going to life drawing classes and painting - basically, I had no life that wasn't involved with work. It was a productive time but it was challenging and it wasn't until the clubs petered out and I stopped dancing all the time that I actually got - a boyfriend!

Dang. I miss the seventies, when a person could make a living DANCING, just dancing - I realize now, looking back at it, that everything changed and American workers started, in real terms, earning much less particularly after the oil shocku in 1979 - I went from doing pretty well to really being poor just overnight and it was uphill after that, and in this economy everybody is scrabbling.

I guess the thing is, you can't really be dancing or teaching and also at a day job at the same time.

And if you have a demanding day job you can't actually be falling asleep. So, you have to find enough hours in the day and night to get everything done.

In my case, my day job was strictly for the money. My soul wasn't there, but it wasn't easy either and to be honest I eventually got way overworked and it has affected my health. So you have to be careful, get enough rest, etc.

As for partners, this can help but it can also demand more than you've got. If you have somebody who's supportive and self-reliant, that's great. Otherwise...to be honest I don't know how people with kids manage but they do -

I think, on balance, two things are important: rest and the ability to focus. Whatever you are doing, do it 100% - compartmentalize. Otherwise you don't do anything well.

And, something's gotta give - make sure it isn't your health!

well said!!

health before wealth!!

I had a few years that I was able to make a full-time living as a belly dancer in Vegas. It was awesome. But then I started working at a ballroom studio, got married, had kids, yadda yadda yadda. It was a nice period of my life, for sure.

These days I juggle the Vegas Intensive (which is practically a full time job) and substitute teach. I'm lucky that I have a degree which allowed me to take such a flexible job. I can work a few days a week, and choose which days I want to work. This allows me to attend meetings with artists, venues, insurance folks, etc during regular "business hours."

Also, there is a ton of value in learning how to delegate. If I can give the job to someone else, I do. I'm one of the rare organizers who pays my staff. I can't necessarily pay them what they really deserve, but they do get compensated. This helps alleviate any guilt. :)

I have a toll-free number that is set to "business hours". This way I don't get calls in the middle of the night. All messages are converted to audio files and emailed to me, so I can hear them on my blackberry.

Having a smartphone really is a great way to deal with the small things as they accumulate. I agree with that previously expressed sentiment fully!

This may be a little wacky, but for the last 5 years I've participated with a Mastermind group. It's a conference call that I do every single week. All the members of the group call in with a list of their goals for the week and an accountability report of what they did the previous week. This has been very useful at helping maintain my focus and balance. This group has been so supportive and resourceful...especially for the years I was a single mom and really struggling to do it all. (btw, marriage didn't really solve anything and brought its own set of challenges, but having a partner really is a help)

I finally took the dive and got a merchant account this year. This is saving me money and time over dealing with paypal. Finding ways to manage information and creating systems for stuff has made things more efficient.

I'm sure there's more I could add, but this is what I can think of off the top of my head.

I think it's hard to do both - in 2006 I quit my day job and lived off of dancing and teaching for 4 years - also going to school and receiving financial aid helped. The main reason I quit my job was the time conflict - I had to give up on parties because I wouldn't get off of work in time, or it was during the day (bellygrams, office parties, etc). But otherwise i was able to manage it, it was just an easy office job, and if i had to make a phone call I could sneak out and do it :)

Last year I started working as a classroom assistant, and that was fine, too.
But when I started student teaching, it all went down hill. From August - end of January, I woke up at 6:15 and came home at 4:30 pm. Couldn't answer the phone during the day. I was basically a full time teacher (my actual master teacher took off, haha), so it was very draining. I was VERY tired. I remember driving home, checking my voice mail, and people were leaving messages for parties. By the time i called back a few of them, they hired someone else. But most of the time what happened was that i though "I'm driving, I'll call them back when I get home, so I'm not distracted", and then completely forget about it. A couple of weeks later i would go through my messages, and hear them again, and think "did I ever get this message?"

After I got home I would take a nap until about 6 pm - my brain was useless anyways. I would still dance during the week sometimes, but if I didn't, I really didn't care, because i was tired. Then I stayed up until 11 pm or later to plan lessons. So the change in my attitude, availability, receiving and returning calls cause huge damage.
Now that I;m done with all that, and substitute teaching (not stressful, draining and not as time consuming), with hard work it's finally coming all back.

I think attitude is 80 %. Also when I was driving to parties and restaurant jobs I was thinking about classroom management, what to do the next day, how I would get all the grading done... not the type of mindset you want to have when getting ready to dance.
I think I also isolated myself from other dancers, they would ask me to go hang out, party, and I couldn't, so after a while they stopped asking. It seemed like I fell of the earth - so they also stopped calling me for parties / subbing for restaurants, because they though I was busy, also: out of sight - out of mind.
But now, thank God, it's all coming together again :))