The last time my son got sick, I was sat at home editing a grant. I was deep in a section, trying to hold the whole argument in my head, when the phone rings. It's the kindergarten, and as every parent can attest to, that call fills you with dread every single time! My eldest had a fever and needed picking up immediately.
For a second I just sat there doing the maths on the deadline and the pickup time. Working from home with a two year old in tow is nearly impossible at the best of times, add a sick older brother needing collection and suddenly there's no version of this day that goes to plan. Then Operation problem solve and delegate kicked in. I saved everything, fired off a message to the client explaining I'd be offline for a bit, and grabbed my coat.
Living abroad without family nearby means you feel this kind of day differently. There's no version where you call your mother and she's there in twenty minutes. It's not just logistics, it's the awareness that there is no backup plan except the one you build in real time out of whoever happens to be reachable. If I lived near my mother or my brother I could have asked them to pick up my son. I would have been able to keep working, knowing he was in safe hands until I could get to him myself.
Eventually I bit the bullet and brought in a babysitter, someone to be there on the days it matters most, so I'm not building that backup plan from scratch every single time. It was one of the better decisions I've made for the business.
Research careers ask this of people constantly. The work takes you away from family and the two collide without warning. What a researcher actually needs in those moments isn't so different from what a parent needs. Someone to hand things to when everything starts to inevitably clash. Sometimes a grant writer can be part of that support system too. Expanding your team means having someone available for the part that can't wait, so the rest of the work still gets the attention it deserves.
When I decided to work for myself and use my skills to help researchers I asked myself where I could make someone's day easier. Where could I be another set of hands? Researchers have some incredible data and work that deserves funding. But due to circumstances out of their control and the pressures that come with academia, their strong science isn't always given its best shot. A grant deadline lands the same week as a conference. A resubmission is due right when a report for another project is also owed. Something has to give, usually the writing, not because the science is weak but because there are only so many hours.
I've stopped seeing it as a failure to ask for help. I've started seeing it as good strategy. Bringing someone else in, someone you can trust with your science, is a strength and smart move. Some days that means a colleague who can step in when you can't be two places at once (or in my case a babysitter, praise be!). Or it can mean a grant writer who can navigate the funder's criteria on your behalf and help get you funded.
