Finding Time for Yourself

When you are a full-time family caregiver it can seem like an impossibility to find time for yourself. You work all day and often all night to provide care to your loved one, leaving so little time for yourself that even necessities like bathing seem to be a guilty pleasure that you have to sneak for yourself.

It is important to get this time, however. You can not care for your care recipient if you are not healthy yourself. One way to sneak time and not feel guilty about it is to multitask. Leave a book on the back of the toilet and read it while you are in there - you have to go in there after all - what harm can it be to take a few extra minutes to catch up on what is happening in your novel? Another option is to do some simple stretching excercises in the bathtub. Spend a few minutes just relaxing and turning side to side or lifting your legs under the water. You know what yuou can and can't do, so be creative and get in some stretches while you relax - bathing by caldlelight when possible makes this so much more relaxing. Another option, if you use a step to get into the higher cabinets, then step up and down from it as you put things away one at a time - this lets you use the step as a stair stepper exerciser and still get needed work done. I like to get up a few hours before I know my parents are going to be getting up - this allows me to get things done while they are still asleep in their own beds, giving me some much needed *me* time.

Be creative and sneaky if you have to be, but see what time you can find to be for your. You'll feel better and be better able to cope with the stress of caregiving.