Strategies for Getting (and Staying) Organized While Caregiving
Caring for a vulnerable elder can be rewarding as well as frustrating. It can increase our self-esteem to know that we are helping someone in need, but it can also burden us as we grapple with difficult care decisions and the fact that we aren’t perfect caregivers. (Hint: No one is.)
Caregiving requires continual learning and adjustments, and no two situations are identical. But, becoming as organized as possible and making a consistent effort to stay that way can help you relieve caregiver stress and use your time and energy more efficiently. It might seem overwhelming to maintain order in such a hectic situation, but a reasonably small amount of effort applied regularly will prove to be far easier than frantically trying to handle everyday mishaps and larger emergencies.
Each person’s organizational process is unique as well. What is orderly for one person may be considered a baffling mess in someone else’s eyes. The important thing is to understand what your personal organizational style is and then stick to it. Forcing strategies that do not mesh with your personality, schedule or lifestyle are not likely to be effective over the long term.
Below are some tips that I have used that may help you with caregiver organization. Try them out and use them as inspiration to help you find techniques that fit into your unique situation.
Caregiver Organization Tips for Everyday Life: Most of us have daily/weekly/monthly routines we carry out with and for our loved ones. Regularly evaluating and updating these routines can have a huge impact on the amount of time and effort you spend on everything from the most important to the most mundane tasks. Consider some of the following organizational improvements:
Create a System for Medication Management: Most caregivers and seniors use some type of medication organizer or pill box that sorts pills by days of the week and/or times of day. This is straightforward as long as you are able to concentrate fully when filling the box. However, what I found most difficult while caregiving was synchronizing the timing of the insurance company authorizations, the pharmacy refill…
Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories. “For anyone having to walk the last segments of life with a loved one, read this.” …Delores
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