Family caregivers often find it difficult to make their own self-care a priority. Does that sound familiar to you? If so, these ideas might be helpful.

Get Your Sleep in Order

If you do nothing else to take care of yourself as a caregiver, take a look at your sleep habits. Sleep that isn’t really allowing you to recharge and to be ready for the next day isn’t helping you the way that it needs to. Start tracking your sleep patterns so that you can determine what’s interfering with your sleep and what helps you to get better sleep. So many factors can be at play from how much exercise you’re getting to what you’re eating.

Start Exercising if You Don’t Already

If you’re not already exercising, it might be time to make that change. Talk to your doctor about whether you have any exercise restrictions. From there, find something that you enjoy doing that involves movement. It’s important that you enjoy what you’re doing. If you don’t, you’ll quit long before you experience any benefits from working out.

Fuel Yourself Properly

Human fuel is food and that means you need to be eating foods that have lots of nutrients that your body can use. Eating processed foods or fast foods might get something into your belly, but it doesn’t do much for giving your body the nutritional elements it needs in order to keep you going. Eating right doesn’t have to mean that you spend hours at the grocery store or in the kitchen, either. Explore some of the options out there for eating healthy foods when you don’t have a lot of time.

Make the Time to Rest

Rest is a little different from sleep. Rest means that you’re letting your brain and your body enjoy activities that help you to feel relaxed. Some people find that meditation is restful while other people find that activities like reading, knitting, or yoga promote rest. The bottom line is that it has to be something that helps you feel rested.

Step Away from Caregiving

You can’t be all about caregiving all the time. You have to take a break now and again. If you’re not taking breaks from caregiving, you’re doing yourself a disservice and ultimately you’re doing your senior a disservice. Find ways to take breaks regularly.

Keeping your caregiving journey as smooth as possible means that there are some specific things you need to do. One of the biggest is taking care of you. If you as the caregiver can’t keep going there are going to be big problems down the road.

If You Or An Aging Loved One Are Considering Hiring Caregivers in Redington Beach, FL, Please Contact The Caring Staff At Assisting Hands Home Care Today! 727-748-4211.