Your December calendar: earn more without burning out
December is the best month of the year and the fastest route to burnout. How to set up longer days, prices and January so you keep both the money and your energy.
In short
- Open your December calendar early and decide how much you can take.
- A daily limit and breaks protect both the quality and you.
- A surcharge for late hours is fairer than a refusal.
Contents 7 parts
The December trap
By the second week of December the calendar is full, messages arrive on Sundays too, and everyone wants “just a quick one before the holidays”. It feels like the best month of the year. But in January your hands hurt, you have no energy, and the account holds less than the feeling promised.
December doesn't have to be survived. It can be planned so you earn more and can still sit at the holiday table. Everything that takes needs deciding in November, while the calendar is still free.
Work out your limit before clients do
The calendar won't stop on its own, so the limit has to come first. Add up December's working time, then subtract the holidays and what you really need to rest.
| Plan | Working hours | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Overload6 days, into the evening | 220 h, exhausted | €6,600 |
| Planned5 days, with an evening surcharge | 180 h | €5,550 |
The gap is 40 hours of work and about €1,000. Whether those hours are worth it is your call, but better to decide with numbers than with tiredness on 22 December.
Regulars first
Regulars are the ones who pay your January. If they can't get in with you in December, they'll find someone else and may not come back. So the first slots are theirs.
Ready-to-use message
Message to regulars
Replace the parts in brackets with your own.
The booking window helps too. If clients can only book 30 days ahead, December opens in November and new clients take slots at the same moment as regulars. Extend it in late October or early November.
In-demand times are worth more
If evenings go first in December, that is a signal about price. A surcharge doesn't chase clients away; it just moves the ones who don't mind when they come. How to work it out and say it is in Evening surcharge: is it fair and how to explain it to clients.
Limits that work on their own
- Only a few long treatments a day. Hands and backs don't get stronger in December.
- A gap between clients. With a full calendar, 10 minutes between visits is what stops the day sliding.
- One day off a week. Written into the calendar as an absence, not “if there's time”.
- A shorter day before the holidays. 23 December won't stay empty anyway, so you can afford to keep it lighter.
How many treatments is too many is covered in How many appointments a day is too many? A daily limit against burnout.
What to do now
Check yourself
December planned
How it works in RINDIQ
- You can set a maximum per day for each treatment per specialist. Once reached, that treatment is no longer available online that day.
- A late-hour surcharge can be set per treatment from a given time, and clients see it before confirming.
- Days off are marked as absences, including for a few hours, and a specific day can have different working hours.
- In your location settings, under Booking rules, you set how many days ahead clients can book and the gap between bookings.
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Read next
All articlesHow many appointments a day is too many? A daily limit against burnout
How to find your limit, work out your real working day and set a cap that protects you from burnout.
Evening surcharge: is it fair and how to explain it to clients
Whether a surcharge on evening slots is fair, how much to charge and how to announce it without upsetting clients.
Rebook before they leave
The simplest way to fill your calendar: the next visit, before the client leaves.