You can’t actually make more time, even if you’re an incredibly efficient caregiver. But you can work your schedule and your tasks so that you are able to become a little more efficient than you were. You might even have more energy and more time to rest, especially if you master delegation.
Having a Plan Helps More than You Might Realize
It’s so difficult for many caregivers to feel as if they can put a plan together for right now, much less planning ahead. Start by planning out the afternoon in the morning. When you get a handle on that, start planning for the next day on the day before. Soon enough, you’ll be planning ahead more than you’ve been able to at this stage. Your plan doesn’t have to be perfect, but just having it allows you to shift your focus.
You Need to Be the First Item in Your Schedule
As you start to plan, you’re likely making sure that so much of what needs to be done for your senior and for her care gets into the plan and that is definitely crucial. But it’s just as important to make sure that you’re in your plan as well. That means you need to put your needs in your schedule first. Schedule time for exercise, for planning your own meals, and for anything else that helps you to be a better caregiver.
Rank Your Tasks According to Priority
You’ve got a laundry list of things you need to do every day and they’re probably all intimidating. They may all seem equally urgent, too. What happens is that you run around all day from one task to another, frantically trying to get everything done. And you probably feel like you’re constantly behind. When you rank those tasks according to their priority and their urgency, you’re in a better position to handle things before they blow up and demand your attention.
Bring in Some Help
One of the best things that you can do for yourself and for your aging adult is to hire home care providers. They can handle some of the tasks that your senior needs handled every day, leaving you a little more time and energy to be able to handle the administrative tasks that pop up, like filing paperwork for your senior and so many other tasks. They can also give you that time you need to breathe and to rest.
Being a busy caregiver is all about balance and using the time that you have as wisely as possible. You also need time to rest and time to just be, so make sure you’re allowing yourself that time.