Blog / Hacks for Juggling Entrepreneurship and Parenthood

Hacks for Juggling Entrepreneurship and Parenthood

Ring ring, ring ring - goes your phone; your biggest client is calling. Nyaaaaah - cries your toddler at the same moment; he wants to sleep. What hat do you wear first? Entrepreneur, or parent? If this situation happens to you regularly, then read on.

Most corporate jobs out there are like clockwork: wake up, shower, gobble some breakfast, go to work, toil it out frequently, come back home, watch some TV and savour the harmony of family life. On the other end of that spectrum, you have entrepreneurial jobs - an unpredictable machine that twists, turns, twirls, tweezes and troubles. Add a newborn, child or pre-teen to that mix and you have yourself an unending rollercoaster of a life.

It’s true that entrepreneurship and parenthood have a lot in common. Both are very stressful, fairly thankless and have difficult personalities to manage. But luckily, there are a crib-full of ways to juggle both.

1. All about priority

If you decide to take the plunge and become a mompreneur or a dadpreneur, prioritization becomes a necessity. Compartmentalizing various parts of the day into smaller one or two-hour chunks to get work done on both fronts works like a charm. But the key is consistency - if you’re unable to find what’s important and what’s not, then take help. Who says you can’t drop your kid at school in the morning and then attend a crucial pitch-meeting?

2. Heard of delegating work?

New parents try to do everything for their children. Like practically, everything. If you’re already leading a startup and faring decently, then you’re sure to know work-delegation. Apply the same concepts at home, and see the magic unfold. The tiny, dirty clothes will be washed by the laundry service, the part-time cook will knock up a tableful of dishes, the kindergarden school will take custody of your 3-year old for 5 valuable hours that you could use to shape up your business. All it takes is delegation. Your spouse can be of immense support here too, as long as they align their own schedule with the needs of the child.

3. Avoid the mix-up conundrum

When you give birth to a child and a business at approximately the same time, they’re going to go head-to-head like two quarrelsome siblings. It could be for your time, money, energy or a mix of all of them. Here’s an example: you have to talk to your nanny to ask her to come early on a busy day and you accidentally place a call to your operations head. It’s quite silly, but it happens. The best way to stay away from this confusion is by maintaining a clear headspace while either working or being with your children. It’s okay to steal a few minutes for yourself to refocus when you transition from being a mother/father to a businessperson.

4. Make it enjoyable:

the head of two families - one at home and the other at work - comes with some perks. If you find that you want to spend more time with your child, take him/her along with you to work. The office crowd will break into big smiles and ‘awws’ at the sight of the child’s tottering walk. Once a few years pass, and you have a ground-breaking presentation to deliver, you can firmly ask the kid to stay in her room and watch TV while you grind it out on your laptop.

5. Be realistic:

In most entrepreneurial circles, ‘work-life balance’ is an archaic term. It’s important to know your time and body limitations, as too much of both entrepreneurship and parenthood can cause burnout. There are bound to be crazy moments while juggling when you might feel things aren’t going your way, but step back and realize that business and parenthood will have hills and valleys. Acceptance of reality will give a clean view at the big picture of what needs to be done and how.

Few things in life can be as hectic and messy as being a budding entrepreneurial success story and ‘Parent of the Year’ at the same time. But with the right impetus, drive and mindset, you can come out on top in both roles.