Running A Studio with CHRONIC illness

Hi everyone!

I've been a little MIA for a while, and that was for a few different reasons:

1. I've been moving my blog to my new beautiful website! I decided that the audience for this blog deserved a separate home from my studio page. I have a lot I want to talk about that doesn't necessarily belong on a piano studio website. Have a look around! I hope you like it here.
2. I got the flu. Ugh! This flu season has been terrible! I spent a full week in bed doing absolutely nothing but watching Gilmore Girls and drinking tea. Then it took me several weeks to get caught up with all the studio business I'd missed. I really hope the flu has evaded you, but if not, you have my deepest sympathy.
3. I've been experiencing a flare of my autoimmune disease, which is extremely common after something like the flu. I've had significantly less energy than usual, and I've had to prioritize.

Now this post is not going to be a downer, I promise, but I know there are a lot of other teachers like me. I've seen this topic come up many times in forums and masterminds. How do you handle running a studio with a chronic illness like Lupus, Lyme Disease, or in my case, Hashimoto's and a few friends (autoimmune diseases like to hang out with each other, so a lot of people get more than one)?

While working for yourself can be taxing, it's actually really great when you have a chronic illness because 

YOU MAKE THE RULES!

That's right! We set our policies, and we get to decide how to run our businesses in a way that works for us, and also makes money!

Here are a few things that I do to make my piano studio work for me:

1. I'm flexible. Because I often have to cancel for health reasons, I'm more lenient with my cancellation policy for my clients. I still have a 24 hour cancelation policy, but I make exceptions for illness. I do not want to get sick (see points 2 and 3 above), so I make it easy on parents when they cancel because someone in their family is sick. 
2. I know my limits. This does not mean that I always work within them. I'm often overextending myself, and my health suffers when I do, but I try my best to recognize when I need to pull things back.
3. I take time for self-care. Mornings are my time. It's just me and the cat at home, so I have time to myself. I do get a lot of administrative and planning work done in the mornings, but I also take time to read, prep some food, exercise, and rest when I need to. 
4. I get creative. One thing I've been focusing on this year is getting creative with make-up lessons. I don't have much room in my schedule for make-up lessons this year, so I've been trying out different options. I've emailed packets of activities and assignments. I've had students send me videos of their playing and offered suggestions. And recently, I've been recording Video Lessons. I think this last one is going to be a really good option for me in the future. (If you're interested in learning more about offering online and video lessons, you need to check out the Online Lesson Academy from the Upbeat Piano Teachers. It's currently sold out, but they will be running more sessions in the future, so definitely check it out!)

I think the main trick is to simply know yourself, take care of yourself, and be kind to yourself. We do important, sometimes stressful work, but it's not back breaking, and it's totally doable if you approach it with kindness and creativity.

​Happy Teaching!