The ONE Secret to Caregiver Burnout Prevention (No Extra Money or Time Needed)
Is taking care of your loved with with dementia an all consuming job?
Is the thought of taking time to take care of yourself seem like an impossible task?
I'm going to share with you the ONE secret I've learned to prevent caregiver burnout that doesn't require more time, money or effort beyond what you are already doing.
Preventing burnout is one of the main things to focus on your caregiving path as getting burn out leads to dire consequences for you and your loved one.
Here's the deal, the myth of the self-care industry is that you need this long luxurious amount of time that quite frankly you don't have.
Here is the secret:
You can do self-care throughout your day and even during difficult moments with your loved one. In fact, you have to in order to properly take care of your loved one and yourself.
Here are 3 Tips on Doing Self-Care Throughout Your Day.
Tip 1: Do Self-Care During Tasks
Listening to Music While driving, during exercise or cooking
In my younger years I discovered this secret when trying to balance my job with dementia patients, going to school, working another day job and my side hustle.
I discovered that listening to music while I did tasks like cooking, driving or exercise helped me relax and work through my emotions with no extra time spent.
What you can do when you are doing tasks is pop on some music that relaxes you or expresses what you are feeling and allow yourself some time to feel and heal.
Tip 2: Create Boundaries and Reflect after difficult moments
When your loved one yells at you or you find yourself cleaning after them, giving yourself time in the moment to step back even if it is only for a few minutes to allow yourself to feel and let go of what has happened
This will make a huge impact. You can simply take a few breaths and come back.
Tip 3: Ask for Help
Sometimes you need to take a break and simply be away from your loved one.
Getting a relative, day program or even in some extreme cases, an evaluation for hospitalization or long term care can be what is best for you and your loved one.
Knowing your limits and being able to ask for help is 100% crucial to yours and your loved one's well being.
Conclusion
What I hope you get from this article is that the one secret is to preventing caregiver burnout is not waiting on some special moment and doing it throughout the day.
Taking any moment you have (cooking,cleaning, etc.) to relax and reflect
Take a few minutes for yourself during difficult moments with your loved one
Ask for help when it is too much.
If you want more tips and strategies grab a free copy of the dementia success guide here.
Share in the comments your experiences and any questions.
