When you start a new job, you learn your title, receive a job description, a list of responsibilities is offered and explained, and you are trained in your new role. When we become a caregiver, we start by helping our family member with errands and tasks. We might be helping with finances and offering advice on technology. We may not recognize that our caregiving role has a title and a defined responsibilities list that will continue to grow. On the job learning without a supervisor, trainer, or colleague to guide us is challenging.
As we take on more responsibilities, we don’t realize how much of our time, energy, and thoughts are focused on assisting. The work isn’t difficult, and we enjoy feeling useful and appreciated. The danger is that we don’t look ahead, and weekly tasks shift to daily tasks. We take on more and more responsibility for our family member and give up more of our free time. We don’t ask for help because we believe we are managing well enough, and arranging help would add more expense and work. Those are valid thoughts, but there is a point when we are beyond our limits and so busy that the idea of finding help is overwhelming. Three steps can help you emerge from the overwhelm and take back control.
1. Shift your mindset from helper to CEO
In your job at work, you would likely go to your boss and request more team members. If you were the boss, you might train staff members and delegate tasks. You would set limits around how much time was spent at work. When we adopt this mindset in our caregiver role, we change how we view each responsibility. When we shift our mindset from helper to Caregiver CEO early in the process, we set ourselves up for success. We identify what tasks we need to continue to do and determine what tasks can be delegated.
2. Create roles and responsibilities lists
As Caregiver CEO, we can step back and assess the tasks and determine priorities. We can decide what we are missing that can be added to the list and look at how we can manage them while continuing to enjoy our lives. We can look ahead and understand that caregiving will intensify, and the time to start interviewing and hiring is now. Adding people to the payroll may come in the form of grocery delivery or locating a pharmacist who can answer questions. New staff members may be neighbors, siblings, or volunteers from a house of worship. Your roles and responsibilities lists begin to take shape, and communication and delegation become increasingly more important. As the list continues to grow, a calendar and checklists become invaluable tools to keep up with the many tasks and responsibilities.
3. Assign yourself the role of Caregiver CEO & Advocate
When you list and delegate responsibilities, you begin to question what tasks you keep for yourself. You may choose to attend doctor’s appointments, manage finances, or spend time with your family member in familiar roles such as parent and adult child. One responsibility that becomes increasingly more important is that of caregiver advocate. You are the expert in your family member, and healthcare professionals rely on you to provide valuable insight to help them make the best decisions. New skills may need to be honed, and you may need to engage in more on-the-job training to develop confidence and become a strong advocate for your family member. You will find your voice and will be recognized as the Caregiver CEO and advocate that you are.
For more on how to become Caregiver CEO and Advocate, get the Caregiver CEO and Advocate Action Plan at HeartofCaregiving.com. Shift from helper to Caregiver CEO, identify the full scope of the job and assess what can be delegated, and take on the Caregiver CEO & Advocate title and role to support your family member as only you can.
Please join me on my book launch journey! 21 Mistakes Caregivers Make & How to Avoid Them will be available on September 20, 2023, and I need your help to make the launch a success and reach the caregivers who need this resource.
Please follow this link, https://spotlightpublishinghouse.com/toni-gitles-book-launch-team, and choose:
💙 Support the launch and purchase the book prior to the release date for $0.99.
💙 Join the team and help me with the promotion.
Please invite others in your network to join and support the launch. Thank you for your continued support!