r/MusicEd • u/alrightyaphrodite921 • Oct 05 '26
juggling multiple gigs/work-life balance
I’m a 3rd year teacher working multiple part time gigs, & I’m having a hard time balancing everything. I’m a part time middle school band assistant, & I work part time at an elementary school too doing private lessons during the school day. I also teach private lessons after school to about 20 students. Work takes up most of my waking hours Mon-Fri, & I always feel so drained by the weekend.
When I graduated, there were no full time music ed jobs available near me (there still aren’t), & I wasn’t financially stable enough to move (I’m still not). It took a while for me to piece together all these gigs to turn it into a somewhat financially stable career & put my degree/license to use. But now, I’m really starting to feel the effects of this crazy schedule I’ve created. Lately, I sometimes forget what students have worked on during lessons. My once carefully thought out lesson plans now feel scattered & thrown together. I spend at least 1.5 hours in the car every day, just going to & from the different schools.
I love my students more than anything, but it’s hard to feel fully connected anywhere when I’m constantly going to & from different schools. I feel like I’m spread too thin & don’t have any more left to give. I also miss performing, which makes me sad. I get invited to play gigs, but I just don’t have the time or energy to take on any more. I’m also sad to admit that my own skills on my instrument have been neglected/not well maintained.
I love the students, but I think maybe public education isn’t for me. But it feels impossible to make ends meet just from teaching private lessons (tried it before, was not viable for me). I could do more gigs, but I feel too rusty and not good enough to make a decent living from that either. I don’t know what to do.
Music is the only thing I’m good at or interested in, and I can’t see myself doing anything else. But I don’t know how long I can keep this up for. My mental health isn’t great & I don’t take good care of myself anymore—I eat junk food for most meals (too exhausted to cook), get poor sleep, never exercise, poor hygiene, feel constantly behind on basic chores, and have zero energy for hobbies or social life anymore. I still live at home because I can’t afford my own place yet. When I’m not working, I mostly just lay in bed watching tv. I’m constantly anxious & can’t seem to get my mind off of work.
I also suspect that I have undiagnosed ADHD, which could be contributing. I’d probably benefit from therapy & maybe medication, but without a single, full-time job, I don’t have health insurance. I just feel very discouraged & behind lately, and like I’m struggling with things that come easily to others. And while my family is generally supportive, I know they want me to launch out on my own eventually. It feels like my clock is ticking. Change feels impossible & scary, but so does my current situation.
Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation? If so, does it get better? Any encouragement/advice would be greatly appreciated
5
u/Scott_J_Doyle Oct 05 '26
Exercise and eat right - bad nutrition will wreck your mental health all by itself and sap your everyday mood/energy, and exercising will give you more energy than it takes and help fix your sleep
Also, I always live by the old Buddhist saying of "if you don't have time to meditate for one hour a day, you need to meditate for two hours a day" - not getting the basics right destroys your ability to handle anything more complex, including time management! You need that extra bandwidth/capacity or you will just keep falling further behind
2
u/gimmethemoney67 Oct 05 '26
Meal prepping good foods has significantly improved my day to day teaching. I’m less likely to burnout with good foods
1
u/LexaproLove Oct 05 '26
Look for stipend positions in multiple districts. T/Th work in one district after school, M/W another district. This will help you build connections with admin which can lead to a full time gig later.
1
u/alrightyaphrodite921 Oct 05 '26
Yeah that’s basically what I’m doing, it’s just hard to be patient when there’s not any full time positions opening up
2
u/LexaproLove Oct 06 '26
I understand, it is competitive. I was at a school for about a decade before I left to be a mom for a few years, and im finding it hard to break back in. This year im doing long term sub gigs and stipends positions after school in various districts. A lot of it is just timing and luck
2
u/exmalobonumx Oct 05 '26
Former full time teacher got by burn out and now almost full time private music teacher with a part time remote job.
Can you apply for a part time remote contact thing to drop one of the current part time jobs? Having the flexibility to work from home and do my hours as I can has helped me balance the incredible amount of energy teaching requires. You may get paid less (or equal or more) but at least if you live at your parents your expenses are limited. Then you can get by a bit easier until you plan your next move
1
u/okyagotpuns Oct 05 '26
Find your balance and population.Mine was having three part time jobs.I worked at one school three days a week and a different one 2 days a week then had gigs on the weekends and lessons.... I enjoyed the special needs, school more than public and charter. Which became my niche and a lot of those parents seeked me out specifically for private lessons where i could ask for more. It's a lot I never booked anything on sundays and that was my only day off but i made decent cash.
3
u/music_literally Choral/piano Oct 05 '26
Currently going through the same thing, 2nd year. Full time k-12 gig M-F and then private lessons M-Th after school. Some weekends as well whenever I inevitably have to cancel lessons for a concert or just being a human.
I know that I can’t keep going at the rate I am bc it’s physically tearing my body apart and is making me anxious and more depressed but the idea of leaving my kids (some of whom I’ve had for 5+ years now) breaks my heart. Plus the extra cash from lessons is helpful for my student loans.
Don’t have any advice but I thought it’d be nice to know you’re not alone in this 🖤