Starting a senior care franchise takes work and lots of it. The first few months — both before and after you open your franchise — are especially time-intensive. Many first-time senior care franchise owners find themselves working long hours in these early months.

Yes, the results are worth it. But that doesn’t mean the long weeks won’t be tough.

The good news? There are steps that new senior care franchise owners can take to maintain their health, well-being, and productivity while working long hours.

How Senior Care Franchisees Can Stay Productive

Get Enough Sleep. The human body depends on sleep for physical and mental wellness. Except for rare genetic exceptions, we all need seven to eight hours to recharge if we’re going to be healthy and productive. To avoid crashing and burning, senior care franchise owners need to maintain healthy sleep schedules.
Exercise Regularly. Physically fit professionals are better workers, both in terms of productivity and in their overall performance. Exercise will increase your energy levels and your ability to stay focused. As a bonus, it will also make it easier to sleep on a regular schedule.
Stay Hydrated While Working. Every part of our bodies depends on hydration, including our brains. Without enough water, your mind won’t be as sharp as you need it to be. So make sure that you’re drinking enough fluids throughout the workday.
Eat Healthy Foods. When you’re working long hours, fast food and snacking can replace healthy food choices. Senior care franchise owners should avoid ~~the of~~ salty, fatty, and sugary foods. The quick calorie boost isn’t worth the mental and physical sluggishness that sets in shortly after eating these foods, never mind their long-term impact on physical health.
Avoid Getting Hungry. A hungry worker is a distracted worker. Studies have shown that when hunger sets in, our brains have trouble focusing on other tasks. Keep healthy snacks — like fruits and vegetables — handy to satisfy your stomach and maintain productivity.
Don’t Rely on Stimulants. Caffeine and other stimulants might seem like the perfect way to energize yourself and invest long hours into your senior care franchise. However, they’re more likely to reduce productivity than boost it. In the short term, you’ll increase your risk for burnout and insomnia. In the long term, you’ll build a dependence and a tolerance for your stimulant of choice, rendering your morning cup of coffee or evening energy drink effectively useless.
Plan Your Work-Life. With so many responsibilities, it’s easy to get distracted and off task. Plan each workweek and each workday, with a set schedule for key responsibilities and project. Simply having a schedule to work from is one of the best ways to reduce time spent on a given task.
Take Regular Small Breaks. Working for more than an hour without a break typically leads to mental fatigue. Steer clear of mental exhaustion by taking regular small breaks throughout the workday. One popular method is a five-minute break every hour, or every half-hour if you’re working on something that demands high levels of focus.
Schedule Non-Work Time. In the same way that your mind needs regular small breaks during the workday, you also need a chunk of non-work time each day. Work this time into your daily and weekly schedule, setting aside at least one uninterrupted hour per day of relaxation time.
Find Space Away from the Office. When you’re unwinding away from work, you need to actually be away from work — both physically and mentally. If you work from home at all, you shouldn’t spend non-work time in a space that you use also for work. Give employees and clients a way to contact you in an emergency, then turn off your phone to give yourself a mental break.
Know Your Limits. After a certain point, longer hours result in diminishing returns. One study found negligent productivity gains after 50 hours. Another study found that workers who routinely worked 60+ hours were, in fact, less productive than colleagues with shorter schedules. If you’re starting a senior care franchise, you’ll need to plan for long hours, especially in the early-going. But you should also know your limits and avoid pushing yourself beyond them.

Here’s one final tip from the senior care franchise experts at Visiting Angels®: make sure that you’re doing work that you love.

When workers spend long hours on unmeaningful work, they report higher rates of stress, health problems, and less job satisfaction. But when professionals invest their time in work they consider important, they stay healthy and productive even when they’re working long schedules.

If caring for seniors brings joy and meaning to your life, then it won’t matter that you’re investing 50+ or even 60+ hours some weeks into your senior care franchise.

Are you passionate about caring for seniors? Are you looking for the perfect opportunity to harness that passion? Then you might be the perfect fit for a senior care franchise with Visiting Angels. Call 800-365-4189 today or request information online to learn more about our senior care franchise opportunity.