u/subjunctivepanic

Last week I had a trial lesson with a student that has a very specific profile: she works in tech but understands almost everything in the target language, but she wants to go through books and articles about her area of expertise. This isn't the issue since I have done this with other students, my problem is she is very, and I mean VERY demanding. She started sharing her screen out of nowhere and began reading her book aloud, she didn't even ask me if I had prepared something for our class. If I wanted to ask her something or correct her on pronunciation she didn't even listen, she didn't ask any questions, but she has a list of very specific demands and I'm already feeling drained.

After our trial lesson I didn't think she would subscribe but she did, and now I don't know what to do! Is there any way I can not teach her without her giving me a bad review or complaining about me?

A little context:
I quit my job 3 months ago and moved into teaching Spanish full time on Preply, and things have actually been going well. I’ve been getting more students, recurring subscriptions, and my schedule is slowly filling up. The problem is that I think I built my schedule around growth and availability, not around sustainability.

At the beginning, I opened hours from 7 am to 9 pm because I was scared of not getting enough students. It worked, but now I feel like my calendar owns my life.

Some things that are affecting me:
- I’m available too many hours during the day “just in case” someone books.
- My evenings are becoming fragmented and mentally exhausting.
- I feel guilty closing availability because I’m afraid of losing momentum or hurting the algorithm.
- I have students in many different recurring slots, so I feel trapped between protecting my income and protecting my health.
- I also struggle with anxiety, and not exercising consistently is making it significantly worse.

Before teaching full-time, I used to exercise regularly (4x/week), and I’m realizing how important that was for my mental stability and energy levels. Right now I barely know where to fit it anymore.

I’m trying to figure out:
- How do experienced tutors create stable schedules without feeling available 24/7?
- Is it normal to start pulling back availability after initial growth?
- How do you protect time for exercise/self-care without panicking about losing students?
- Have any of you experienced a slowdown during summer/vacation months? I’m wondering if I’m catastrophizing future demand too early.

I think I’m entering the phase where I need systems and boundaries instead of maximum availability, but psychologically that transition feels terrifying.

I’d really appreciate hearing how other people handled this stage. Be kind, please!

A little context:
I quit my job 3 months ago and moved into teaching Spanish full time on Preply, and things have actually been going well. I’ve been getting more students, recurring subscriptions, and my schedule is slowly filling up. The problem is that I think I built my schedule around growth and availability, not around sustainability.

At the beginning, I opened hours from 7 am to 9 pm because I was scared of not getting enough students. It worked, but now I feel like my calendar owns my life.

Some things that are affecting me:
- I’m available too many hours during the day “just in case” someone books.
- My evenings are becoming fragmented and mentally exhausting.
- I feel guilty closing availability because I’m afraid of losing momentum or hurting the algorithm.
- I have students in many different recurring slots, so I feel trapped between protecting my income and protecting my health.
- I also struggle with anxiety, and not exercising consistently is making it significantly worse.

Before teaching full-time, I used to exercise regularly (4x/week), and I’m realizing how important that was for my mental stability and energy levels. Right now I barely know where to fit it anymore.

I’m trying to figure out:
- How do experienced tutors create stable schedules without feeling available 24/7?
- Is it normal to start pulling back availability after initial growth?
- How do you protect time for exercise/self-care without panicking about losing students?
- Have any of you experienced a slowdown during summer/vacation months? I’m wondering if I’m catastrophizing future demand too early.

I think I’m entering the phase where I need systems and boundaries instead of maximum availability, but psychologically that transition feels terrifying.

I’d really appreciate hearing how other people handled this stage. Be kind, please!