Weekend Hours: a “Do” or a “Don’t”?

Since I first opened my studio back in 2007, I had a “no weekends” policy. I’ve had families ask about Saturday and Sunday lessons and music therapy sessions, but I always stood firm that I would limit my work week to 5 days. Until now.

The thing is, Sunday has never really served as a day of rest for me. After choir practice and church in the morning, I usually come home and work on a songwriting/recording project or prepare lesson and session materials, which works out nicely since my husband is usually busy watching football anyway. And on most Sundays, I head back to church in the late afternoon to teach my early childhood music class. So even though my studio was never open for business on this day in the past, I still was always in work mode.

This summer as I was planning my studio schedule, I realized that something would have to give. With a full load of students and no plans to downsize, my choices were to either work well into the night — 8:30 pm on most evenings — or open up a couple hours on Sundays (Saturdays will always be off the table).

The answer was a no-brainer, because a) no family wants to trek out so late in the evening; and b) there’s no way I’m going to miss my baby’s bedtime each night. But I wasn’t sure if there would be any interest in a Sunday session, so I threw it out to all my families in an email. Lo and behold, at least 10 parents immediately responded that they would be very interested. I decided to offer 4 spots on a first-come, first-serve basis, which means I’ll be devoting 2 hours to students every Sunday afternoon.

If you’re pondering extending your hours, especially on the weekends, here are a few questions for consideration:

• Are you dedicating enough time to yourself and your family during the week to make up for additional work hours?
• Do you and your clients understand that everyone may need to be a bit more flexible, since obligations and schedule conflicts frequently occur on the weekends?
• Do you have a strong cancellation policy in place so that students aren’t cancelling frequently without good reason?
• Do the pros of offering weekend or extended hours outweigh the cons?

Some of my friends and family have questioned this decision, but I feel good about it. The way I see it, most working moms don’t have the opportunity to be at home with their children for most of the day on a daily basis, and I do, thanks to an afternoon/evening schedule and no commute. And since I won’t start working until 12:30 on Sundays, I can still go on short weekend trips and be home before my first student arrives.

That being said, I hope I don’t regret my decision once the plan is actually set in motion a week from Sunday. Getting back into the swing of things after being on maternity leave all summer is going to be an adjustment all around, and though I definitely have some butterflies about the transition, I’m excited.

What are your thoughts on offering studio hours during the weekend? I know that this is common practice for many studio owners; if you’re one of them, I’d love to hear about your experiences.