What Does Fully Booked Mean to You?

“Are you fully booked?”

It’s a question that comes up a lot—and it can carry a surprising amount of weight. On the surface, it sounds like a simple measure of success. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll realise that fully booked means very different things to different people.

The official definition?
All available spaces, tickets or reservations for a particular event, service or venue are taken.
But who decides how many spaces are available?

You do.

Being fully booked doesn't have to mean back-to-back clients, six days a week. It doesn't mean working 8 hours a day or having a waiting list out the door. Unless, of course, that’s what you want.

For some therapists, fully booked means three clients a day, three days a week—because that fits around family life, another job, or simply the way their body and energy levels work best. For others, it might mean working longer days but fewer of them, or keeping Fridays clear for admin, CPD, or rest.

What really matters is that your diary reflects what you need—both financially and energetically.

Once you’ve worked out how much you need to earn to support yourself (and the lifestyle you want), you can then decide how many appointments you need to offer to reach that. And that’s where your pricing comes into it. If you’re charging too little, you’ll need to do more work to hit that same target. It’s not just about being busy—it’s about being sustainable.

So if you’re not “fully booked” yet, it might not be a sign that you’re doing something wrong. It could simply mean you’re offering more availability than you actually need—or pricing your work in a way that’s working against you.

Being fully booked is not about how many hours you’re squeezing in—it’s about how well your work life supports the rest of your life.

Final Thought
Fully booked isn’t a standard to meet—it’s a standard you set. When you know what you need to earn and how you want to work, you can build a practice that serves both your clients and your wellbeing. Define what success looks like for you—and let that be enough.