One of the worst situations a caregiver can get locked into is feeling responsible for doing absolutely everything. And when obligations and tasks just keep piling up that's a path to burning out. When you can figure out how to get the help that you need, you're going to be able to step back from being the one who handles everything alone
Get Your Team Together
If you don't have a caregiving team in place, that's your first task and probably the biggest reason behind you still doing everything. Your team can be made up of anyone who supports you and your family member. This might include family members, friends, caregivers you've met in support groups, and elder care providers. You might even have a team and not realize it until you sit down and think about who could be part of your team.
Be Realistic about What You Can Do on Your Own
Where a lot of people get into trouble with time management in all sorts of situations is thinking that they can do more than they can actually do. This is especially problematic for a caregiver because you're not just a caregiver. You're applying that same time management fallacy to every area of your life. So sort through what you absolutely have to do yourself and what you realistically can do.
Delegate What's Left to Your Team
You're going to have some tasks left over and that's perfectly fine. Now is when you start delegating those tasks to the people on your team who are best equipped to handle them. It's going to feel weird at first to "assign" tasks to other people, but they're there to help you and your aging adult. As you become more accustomed to the idea, it does become easier.
Get Rid of Perfection
If you're still clinging to the idea of being perfect in any aspect of your life, it would serve you well to let go of that. Perfection is not attainable and chasing after it will keep you in that loop of doing too much. When you can let the search for perfect go, you make more room for the important things.
One of the best lessons that you can learn as a caregiver is that good enough is often good enough. Give yourself grace to make mistakes and to be less than perfect. You're going to be able to find more joy in caregiving and approach it with a more open heart.
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