Part of the allure of entrepreneurship is being able to spend your time as you see fit, but this goal is often more fantasy than reality. Long hours, hard work and sacrifices are the norm for entrepreneurs across industries, even as personal commitments mount.
Increasingly, middle-aged adults are simultaneously caring for their children and aging parents, both financially and emotionally. Entrepreneurs in the “sandwich generation” can find themselves especially strained when taking on the responsibility of their elderly loved ones’ care while shouldering the weight of a business. Fortunately, shifts in work practices supported by technology can give entrepreneurs the opportunity to create flexible workplaces that accommodate life’s demands. Here are three ways to accomplish that.
1. Establish a Support System
To balance their work commitments and caregiving responsibilities, entrepreneurs need to cultivate a great support system. Outside of work, this could involve researching and engaging trustworthy, competent professionals or nursing home staff to care for your loved ones. In your business, it means hiring staff and delegating responsibilities to facilitate your caregiving needs.
Many entrepreneurs aim to run lean teams, either because they’re keeping an eye on cash flow or they want to maintain a horizontal organization. But if you’re still doing all your own admin and picking up the break room snacks, a personal assistant or office manager is a wise HR investment. As caregiving needs intrude, you need to spend the time you do have at work focusing on your company’s growth and profitability, not planning team lunches.
And while you’re delegating tasks, designate a second in command to answer questions and make prioritization decisions when you’re called away, either by a kid with the flu or a parent’s neurologist visit. By sharing this authority, you can make sure business operations don’t come to a standstill when caregiving duties require you to be elsewhere.
2. Develop a Work Style That Maximizes Your Productivity
Launching a startup requires commitment, focus and, often, long hours. However, when caregiving commitments arise, heads-down work must take a pause. Depending on your caregiving arrangements, these disruptions may be planned, spontaneous or both. Given the unpredictable yet very likely possibility of pop-up emergencies and last-minute appointments, you’ll need to make the most of every working hour.
Research and try out various working styles to see which strategies give you a productivity edge. Many entrepreneurs swear by time blocking, where you create dedicated calendar blocks for different types of tasks. This approach lets you work more effectively because you’re not losing 20% of your productive time to context switching. So rather than answering a handful of emails, making three client calls and holding a one-on-one before your father’s physical therapy appointment, batch those tasks on either side of it. You’ll be able to handle each one faster and better when you’re single-tasking.
Another way to maximize the work time you have is to learn about your chronotype, which will reveal what times of day you’re most productive. Use this information to structure your day and schedule your most challenging work. If you’re a morning person, tackle the monthly reporting first thing and slot in Dad’s PT appointment during your midafternoon slump. By working with rather than against your chronotype, you can do your best at work and as a caregiver.
3. Embrace Tech-Enabled Flexible Scheduling Companywide
Aligning your workday with your chronotype is hardly the only way you can use scheduling flexibility to maximum advantage. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the business world has gotten increasingly used to both remote and asynchronous work. Lean into both trends to tackle work tasks when you’re most focused and your caretaking duties are on hold—and allow employees to do the same. Fellow caregivers on your team will appreciate the ability to work non-traditional hours while fulfilling their own care tasks.
Luckily, technology makes this infinitely easier. By using collaboration spaces, shared files and messaging platforms, team members—including you—can work when it makes sense for them. Furthermore, these robust systems allow you to keep close track of project progress without breathing down your employees’ necks. That’s good for your people and for you, since your caregiving responsibilities don’t allow time for micromanagement anyhow!
To maintain team connections and enable occasional real-time collaboration, you may want to schedule certain hours of the day or one day a week when all staff overlap. Any meetings that need to occur can be confined to one or two days weekly, leaving other days meeting-free. University of Reading researchers found that companies that instituted two meeting-free days per week saw productivity rise a whopping 71% percent. So this practice doesn’t just give the caregivers on your team more flexibility, it’s great for your business, too.
Caregiving and Entrepreneurship Can Coexist
Improved access to healthcare and increased longevity mean more entrepreneurs are likely to find themselves caring for both their children and their aging parents. Fortunately, it is possible to create workplace flexibility that meshes with life’s responsibilities. With the right support system, work practices, and technologies, you can grow your business and care for your loved ones at the same time.
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