Caring for an aging loved one can be a rewarding but challenging responsibility, especially when you’re juggling work and personal commitments. As our population continues to age, more and more people are finding themselves in the role of caregiver, often with little preparation or guidance. The responsibility can sometimes feel overwhelming, leading to stress, burnout, and a negative impact on your own well-being. However, with the right approach, it is possible to find balance and manage your time and energy more effectively. In this blog post, we will explore several tips and strategies to help caregivers better manage their caregiving responsibilities, allowing them to provide the best possible care for their loved ones while also maintaining their own physical, emotional, and mental health.

Make a List of Priorities

The first step in achieving balance is recognizing that it’s impossible to do everything at once. Make a list of your most important tasks and prioritize them based on urgency and importance. Focus on completing the highest-priority tasks first, and then move on to the next ones. Remember that it’s okay to delegate or ask for help when needed – you don’t have to do everything yourself.

Create a Flexible Schedule 

Having a daily or weekly schedule can help you stay organized and ensure that you’re allocating time for all your responsibilities. Block out time for work, caregiving, and personal activities, and try to stick to this schedule as much as possible. Be sure to build in flexibility, as unexpected events or emergencies may require you to adjust your plans.

Stay Organized and Keep Track of Tasks

Keeping track of appointments, medications, and other caregiving tasks can be overwhelming. Use a calendar or planner – either physical or digital – to record important dates and reminders. Creating checklists can also help you stay on top of your to-do list and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.

Digitize Essential Documents for Easy Access

Having access to essential documents, such as medical records and legal paperwork, can make caregiving more manageable. Use a tool to scan a document, like a mobile scanning app, to create digital copies of these documents and store them securely in the cloud or on your device. This way, you can easily share them with other family members or healthcare providers as needed, and you’ll always have them at your fingertips. By utilizing this technology, you can save time and reduce stress, ensuring that important information is readily accessible when you need it most.

Take Care of Yourself to Maintain Energy

Taking care of yourself is crucial for maintaining the energy and mental clarity needed to juggle work, caregiving, and personal life. Prioritize self-care by getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising regularly. Don’t hesitate to seek medical attention if you’re feeling overwhelmed or experiencing symptoms of burnout, such as fatigue, irritability, or difficulty concentrating.

Don’t Take On Everything Alone

You don’t have to navigate the challenges of caregiving alone. Reach out to friends, family members, or support groups for advice, encouragement, or a listening ear. If you’re struggling with specific caregiving tasks, consider hiring professional help, such as a home health aide or geriatric care manager. Taking advantage of community resources, like adult day care centers or meal delivery services, can also lighten your load and provide valuable assistance.

Carve Out Time for Hobbies

Finding time for hobbies and activities you enjoy is essential for maintaining balance and preventing burnout. Whether it’s reading, gardening, or playing a musical instrument, make sure to carve out time in your schedule for personal interests. Engaging in these activities can help relieve stress and provide a much-needed break from caregiving responsibilities.

Balancing work, caregiving, and your personal life can be challenging but achievable with the right strategies and mindset. By setting priorities, creating a schedule, staying organized, digitizing essential documents, maintaining your health, seeking support as needed, and making time for hobbies, you can better manage your various roles and responsibilities while maintaining your own well-being. Remember that taking care of yourself is just as important as caring for your loved one – a healthy and balanced caregiver is better equipped to provide the support and care that seniors need.

Make a difference with caregiver and manager training from Assisted Living Training School. 

Guest Writer: Jennifer Sander jennifer.sanders@healthlifeteacher.com

Can you tell us a bit about you and your story?

I am an accidental caregiver!  My background was in engineering and high tech, but I discovered that I have affinity with direct care and geriatrics.  I am typical of most immigrants, my family came to the United States for better opportunities.  We believe hard work and education will prepare you to achieve your American Dream!

How do you define success?

Work life balance and having someone to share your success with.

Do you have a quote or motto you live by?

Make time for kindness.  (Don’t forget to be kind to yourself!)

Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?

Building and fine tuning a business model that creates more wins and opportunities for residents, caregivers, Assisted Living Operators, and the communities at large.  I see myself as an entrepreneur or a valued employee for a brand name company!

What do you think the Assisted Living Industry could use more of?

1. Affordable, middle-income senior housing that provides quality care and living accommodations.
2. Clear requirements from state or federal level on minimum direct care staffing ratios.
3. Trained and sustainable caregiver workforce.

What is your favorite way to de-stress?

I meditate.

You’ve taken both your caregiver and manager classes with us, is there a piece of advice that you can give to our students?

Trust the process, follow the program, and believe in the proven system!

Thank you Alex, for taking the time to answer these questions. We are proud to have you as our October Student of the Month! Much success and prosperity to you!

Can you tell us a bit about you and your story?

My name is Morgan and I’m a proud wife, mother of 2 beautiful children, and a Phoenix Firefighter Engineer.  During my past 6 years as a first responder, I have run countless emergency calls to various assisted living facilities. I would always assess my surroundings, i.e. taking notes on home layouts, types of residents, caregivers, and also initiate conversations with managers. This year I decided to combine my business management degree with my desire to help those in need and start an assisted living home. I wanted to be knowledgeable from the ground up, so to me it was important to know and understand all roles of the business. I have a medical background with being an EMT, so the caregiving came natural to me. My business management degree also helped with understanding the concepts of the managers course. The Assisted Living Training School came highly recommended by my mentor and many other care home caregivers/managers.  I currently co-own a 10 resident facility in North Phoenix and am opening a second 5 resident facility next month.

Sounds like you have lots of experience and it makes sense how that lead you to where you are now. How do you define success?

To me success is defined as having strong morals and values, a strong work ethic, resilient mindset, and a high level of perseverance. 

Great definition! Do you have a quote or motto you live by?

“Inspiration is my drug of choice. Either giving or receiving.”

Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?

 I am a lifelong learner, so I hope to expand my knowledge in the field of assisted living more specifically the technological advances. I aim to grow my portfolio, become a mentor, and pride myself on owning and managing successful, well operated, and genuinely loving assisted living homes. 

Being a lifelong learner is important! Love that you brought that up. With that, what do you think or see that the Assisted Living Industry could use more of?

The Assisted Living Industry could use more sophisticated health monitoring technology. In the next 10 years, we will see lots of wearables tracking heart rates, blood pressures, body temperatures, and many more resulting in better tracking and more remote health monitoring. Staying on top of all the new technology will be crucial. 

Technology can enhance healthcare in ways that will benefit employees, patients, and elevate the quality of care! Being in this industry can get stressful at times. What is your favorite way to de-stress? 

Having a routine keeps my stress levels low. My favorite way to de-stress is to workout. Besides all my firefighter skills workouts, I go to a Boot Camp 5 days a week.  The high endorphins levels and being around my healthy, like minded tribe of friends helps me to reset and de-stress. Also, hanging out with my wife, 3 year old son, and 1 year old daughter at the splash pad is always a good time!

You’ve taken both your caregiver and manager classes with us, is there a piece of advice that you can give to our students?

Stay disciplined and set realistic goals for yourself when you start the courses. Hold yourself accountable, by checking yourself weekly. Stay on top of quizzes, and try your best to retain knowledge and you won’t have to take a quiz more than once. You got this! 

Thank you Morgan for sharing your passion with us. It is inspiring to hear about what you have done, are doing, and will do in the near future. Great to have you as an ALTS Alumni!

1. Empower yourself about the importance of your work. Focus only on the positive effects of your career choice. Consider this more of a vocation than an actual job.
2. Put yourself in your patient’s shoes. Sure, caregiving could be exhausting, but most of these patients have had it rough too, and maybe even suffering from physical or emotional pain. Hiring a caregiver is costly and if they are in the right condition to not need someone to take care of them, they would not even bother hiring one.
3. Celebrate even the smallest victories and reward yourself once in a while. You are making the world a better place, one person at a time. Every good deed counts.
4. Ask for help if you cannot handle things in one go. It could be a friend or a family member, as long as they could assist you with even the most trivial of errands, that would be helpful.
5. Always treasure the people around you. Express yourself in a way that your friends and family will truly understand the situation you are in. Limit your connections with negative people who will drag you down. Surround yourself with those who appreciate you and really care.
6. Organize and be prepared for everything. Caregiver life is different from personal life, so learn how to separate the two and be professional. Make a to-do list beforehand. Gather data about your patient, then plan ahead. Unexpected circumstances will happen, so a foolproof contingency plan will lessen the burden of too much work.
7. Join a support group or a forum with the same concerns as you. You need an outlet to vent out and seek support. You are not alone in this endeavor. Find the right people you could trust, aside from your family and friends.
8. Give yourself a break sometimes. You are a caregiver after all, not a robot. Treat yourself to a place where for one day, you can forget all the stress you have had for a week. Live a little.
9. Take a small portion of your time for exercise or meditation. Both of them will enhance your mood and boost feelings of joy and well-being. They also break the habit of constantly running errands for your patient.
10. Always maintain a good sleep routine. Studies show that lack of sleep could induce stress levels to increase, leading to mood swings and lack of productivity in work.
11. Eat healthy. A balanced diet will keep you focused, energetic and lively no matter how stressful the situation is. Truth is, many foods (especially sugar and caffeine) create a crash that could decrease your energy levels. You do not want them.

Love and belongingness needs are the third level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. If you have not learned about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it is something worth doing more research on. Love and belongingness fall under psychological needs. With people that we encounter, physiological needs must be met to live a quality life. Whether these individuals are in a care home, staying with a loved one, or living independently.

If someone has an unmet need, there is a likely chance for the individual to become ill (physically, mentally, etc.). This can decrease their quality of life. Here at Assisted Living Training School we aim to teach and meet those needs. That way, individuals can flourish, perform their best, and continue to share their experiences with others. By focusing on this goal, we become intentional with the activities we engage in. 

As humans, we naturally desire connection by sharing our experiences, feelings, and life with a community. When involved in a relationship, friendship, or a community, it creates a sense of belonging and purpose that is craved. Activities that may strengthen connection and engagement may consist of activities that involve our family, friends, and even strangers.
Here are a few activity suggestions we encourage:

Volunteer at a local charity or church

You will be able to help others in your community, and also be able to benefit from volunteering. By getting involved, you are boosting social skills. Volunteering is also a great stress and anxiety reducer. Due to its ability to improve your overall mood, helping others delivers pleasure to us.

Or have volunteers come to socialize with your residents – whether it be a phone call or a visit, making a new friend can increase cognitive functions.

Gather your family and celebrate life

There are a few times in the year where we are able to get the whole family together to celebrate such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. But why limit get-togethers with your family, when we can create a time to celebrate with your loved ones? This allows connection to strengthen and allow for your family members to practice gratitude for their loved ones and life.

Host an event

Help host an event or create an event is another activity that strengthens the connection between you and your community. It will provide a sense of purpose and fulfillment knowing you are doing something to bring people together. This event could be as simple as a picnic at the park with three close friends or an event that can bring awareness to the greater good.

These three suggestions have a few powerful commonalities. It gives us an opportunity to spend intentional time with our loved ones and also an opportunity for us to create new connections and impactful memories.

“Caregiving often calls us to lean into a love that we did not know was possible.” 

Caregivers work in a variety of settings with an array of people and play a vital role in each one of the individuals life’s that they care for. Caregiving holds a great amount of responsibility. By looking into the daily tasks of a caregiver, you see that it is a demanding field that requires a lot of patience and time management. You also see that it is both fulfilling and rewarding.  Caregivers help with the activities of daily living to individuals who are no longer able to be self dependent. Being a caregiver involves time management, interpersonal skills, organization, cleanliness, patience, and flexibility.

Caregiver Duties

As a caregiver, my day consists of assisting those in need.

For example:

• helping residents to get dressed
• assisting them in the restroom
• grooming
• giving medication
• maintaining good nutrition
• go to appointments

Most importantly, it looks like companionship. Most seniors are able to do activities for themselves, they just need assistance. I am not there to do everything for them, but to be there for when they need help. We assist with bathing, shampooing and conditioning the hair, shaving, styling of the hair, brushing teeth and any other hygiene needs.

Medications

The average elderly patient takes more than 5 prescription medications a day. Many medications need to be taken at certain times, with or without food etc… However, with age our memory starts to gradually decline. You could only imagine how hard it is to keep up with all of this information. As a caregiver, we aren’t only helping with remembering to take medication but helping to read labels, to understand what medication is for what, and why the resident needs to take it.

Healthy Lifestyle

As we get older, it becomes harder for us to maintain the vital nutrients we need. It also becomes more important for us to receive those nutrients. Many caregivers will go shopping and meal prep for their residents to ensure they are receiving the proper nutrition and adequate meals. In addition to meal preparation, caregivers can also help with light housekeeping. Helping residents with activities like this can be very beneficial to keeping a healthy life style.

A healthy lifestyle may look different for each individual. However, one thing always stays consistent, the level of urgency and love we put into each patient. It requires strength, resilience, determination and a lot of patience. Caregivers understand that the people are going through one of the most difficult situations that they have ever been in. It is understood that we are working with people who have medical conditions that they have no control over, it is important to never take anything personal. In addition, to provide the best qualify of life for others.

Life Lessons

Being a care giver has taught me that giving my time to somebody in need and helping be the voice for somebody who can no longer use their own is the purest form of service there is. I learned to be grateful and appreciative. Laughter truly is the best medicine. Importantly, self care is extremely important no matter how old you are. Caregiving has given me a sense of understanding myself and in others that I never had before. It taught me beautiful lessons. When I see the smile on my patient’s faces, it makes the long days and the difficult moments worth it. Caregiving is the truest form of empathy and compassion I have ever been able to give and receive.