Four Ways for Family Caregivers to Balance Work With Care Schedules

You work full-time, but your parents also need help with certain daily tasks. Some of the common things seniors need help with include medication reminders, transportation, and meals. How do you help them when you have a job?

Homecare in East Quogue NY: Caregivers Balance Work With Care Schedules

Learn to Schedule Everything

You need to get in the habit of creating a daily schedule. Write down everything you need to get done on each day of the week. Leave time to sit and relax. Stick to that schedule.

You might find it easiest to set up this calendar on your phone and set up alerts to keep you from overlooking anything. It might be better to have a written list on a dry erase board. Find the system that works best for you.

At the end of the day, see if there are things you couldn’t finish. Star those days. They’re the days when you’re too busy to fully devote time to your parents. Those are the days to ask others to help out.

Ask About Working From Home

Is any part of your job something you could do from home? If you’re a restaurant, store, or factory worker, working from home isn’t really possible. If you’re a marketing rep, on days you don’t have client meetings, working from home is possible.

It cuts out commute times and adds minutes or hours to your day. If your commute is normally 30 minutes there and another 30 minutes back. By working at home, you have an extra hour for work and care tasks.

When you can work from home, you’ll be able to work while helping your parents out during breaks. You can arrange your day so that you’re cooking lunch for everyone during your lunch break. It will be tiring doing things for multiple people, but it allows you to multi-task and get multiple things done at once.

Speak Up for Yourself

It’s time to speak up. If you’re balancing the care of your parents and your work, your siblings need to help out. This may not be easy depending on your family dynamics, but they should remember that it’s your parents who need them. They may not want to help you out or even talk to you, but it’s about your mom and dad. Personal feelings need to be set aside.

Hire Professional Caregivers

The best way to manage your time is by having caregivers available. When you’re working, your parents can have professional caregivers helping them with personal care, housework, meals, transportation, etc. It reduces your burden and allows you to focus on the thing that keeps money in the bank.

If you or an aging loved one is considering hiring Homecare in East Quogue NY, call the caring staff at Artful Home Care today at 631-685-5001.