By Tessa Brooks
We love getting a massage. But have you ever stopped to think what it takes to provide you with that complete, all inclusive experience? What do massage therapists do between massages? Let’s take a look at the daily life of a therapist. Let’s go… “behind the scenes!”
As a massage therapist one of the questions we get a lot of is: “what do you do between massages?” The answer is everything!
To have a successful business you have to be organized and prepared, part of doing that is spending the time between your appointments to catch up on things.
The two very important things to keep up with are paperwork and supplies.
Paperwork is a central part of your business, not only for yourself to keep notes on clients for future reference, but also per HIPAA certain records have to be kept for each client. Or possible insurance companies that need our records on your behalf. There is no getting away from bureaucracy!
Supplies can easily be depleted throughout the day. Keeping them stocked and ready for use at a moment’s notice can make or break your customer service sometimes. Even the small things matter like hot towels and making sure your oil bottle is full required daily maintenance.
Laundry, yes, laundry is a huge part of being prepared for the day. Washing, drying and folding laundry between clients can cut down on the amount of work needed to be done after a long day of massage.
Self Maintenance: Massage therapists have to be able to perform at their best for each client. Part of this is keeping our hands in shape from our muscles to our nails. Nails must be kept short so as not to sick or “nail” someone by accident. We must cut and file them every few days.
Environment: Keeping the work space clean and presentable is a top priority of any massage therapist behind the scenes. Having a space that presents the look you want to convey is first and foremost for successful business in general. Wiping things down and mopping between clients can make the upkeep of this look easier faster in the long run.
There are many things that go on in the daily life of a massage therapist, so the next time you receive a massage, take the time to appreciate all of the things that go into making it happen!
Question: Tell us what you do behind the scenes that makes a difference in your business or life. Often people don’t even know about it. But YOU know it is necessary to get the job done!
I love the pictures, especially the one of Crystal. Keeping up with paperwork, laundry and cleaning can be tough. I love the efficiency that Clary Sage has and plan to duplicate it in the future.
I know at my job in veterinary medicine it is important to keep everything really clean, between appointments I keep tables clean and organized I restock draws and shelves. I also make sure that we have enough supplies while I have a moment, there is always something to do to stay busy. Getting as much done before the end of the day is very helpful for moral, if I have a chance I help the kennel people empty the trash, restock paper towels, and sweep the floors so they can leave with the rest of us. We do our best to have a good team work mentality which benefits everybody.
This is good for the public to see what we do for a living, its not fun and games its hard work!
I think keeping supplies well stocked is extremely important.
Every job has behind the scene requirements that most people don’t think about until you have to actually do the job!
Maybe it’s just me, but this blog is by far the worst I’ve commented on. It just seems like a pointless blog to me, a complete posted no brainer. It seems to me common sense should play out for the therapist. Supplies, environments, laundry, self maintenance, and paperwork seem like things that should already be known. I guess you could say the blog is a helpful reminder. But still seems like it shouldn’t have been blogged t all
Dontae, sorry you feel that way. We were trying to show the world what a therapist does outside of the room. People sometimes misunderstand what we go through as professionals. We hopped to provide a window into our lives. The idea being…..with understanding comes more acceptance and respect.
I will use the time to clean up and put new sheets down and make sure that everything is ready for the next client and after all of that is done look at there chart so I know what to avoid and main points to ask about.
I love multitasking and getting things done in my everyday life now, so I know when I have my own business it will be no problem.
I am an Esthetician now and keeping up with laundry and returning phone calls and scheduliing appts and cleaning keeps me very busy. It’s just me no secretary or laundry service. so I try to keep at least 30 minutes in between clients for things like this.
These are all excellent points. I currently work as a massage consultant at a local Massage Envy. Our therapists are usually busy enough that they just have enough time to change the sheets on the tables between giving massages. As a massage consultant, I help the therapists keep up with laundry, speak with all incoming clients and takes notes what what is bothering them for the therapists, re-book clients for future massages, and keep all client files organized and up to date.
Thank you, Shannon, for the feedback. We love and are so thankful for those that help us “behind the scenes” 🙂
This blog is very useful for a lazy person that needs to be reminded of the daily task that need to be done to make life a little simpler. Also very useful to the outsiders looking in so that they can see that its more to it then just rubbing on people.
Everything mentioned is really crucial to running a business as smoothly and efficient as possible. Yes, these are things that seem like it should be common sense but I didn’t realize the HUGE significance these everyday things came into play until I did my physical therapy clinical. I’m really glad that I got a taste of the “behind the scenes” because otherwise I would have over-booked at some point knowing myself. Ha. 🙂
As much as i dislike paper work I that it is the most important part of a business. Because without it you would not be able to keep up with anything and there could be legal issues.
this is a great reminder that yes we have stuff still that needs to be done other then make our clients super happy. the paper work is very important and needed. so this is a great reminder for us yes we have important tacks to do as well!
There’s a lot more to it than massaging people that majority of people realize. I’m not one for paper work but I know it must be taken care of.
I work at a business that offers massage so I know the importance of everything mentioned in this blog. It is paramount that you be prepared for every client as they arrive and on slow days its so easy to get distracted by cell phones, conversation, and side projects that sometimes you can forget to do those little things like refill your oil or cream. Working the front desk I always try and help out the people in the spa area with laundry and I always make sure all intake forms and client info is taken after greeting the clients. Sometimes it is near to impossible but leaving enough time between clients can really help in keeping up with all the other busy work we have!
You can take more control of your day by doing paperwork, keeping supplies stocked, laundry done, self maintenance kept up, and the general work area tidy and sanitary between clients rather than having your day interrupted by these “have to do” things when perhaps a client is waiting on you or stacked up at the end of your day. Time management is the key. Taking control of your day instead of letting the day dictate to you what to do next.
I thought this blog to be very interesting. It’s very important to always make sure you document everything. Always have a clean environment.
it helps to keep a weekly list of things to check. and make sure that you have time set aside for ordering ,shopping etc. when your certain day of the week and month this,it helps to keep from forgetting or running out.