Being a caregiver means that sometimes you may find it difficult to balance everyone's needs as well as you'd like, especially your own. This can lead to you feeling impatient, which isn't a friendly emotion for the people around you to experience.
Let Yourself off the Hook
If you're feeling guilty for your impatience and subsequent responses because of that impatience, it's time to let that go. It's a completely human response to feel impatient, especially when you're trying to juggle a million things all at once. The thing is, you can't spend the rest of your caregiving journey reacting to situations that make you clench your teeth in irritation. Forgive yourself and start developing a plan to help you resolve this situation.
Why Are You So Impatient?
There are so many different reasons you might be feeling impatient as a caregiver. you might find it difficult to get your senior moving in the morning or on the way to appointments. You might find it frustrating to convince your elderly family member that certain changes can help her to feel better or to have a better overall quality of life. Knowing as many situations as you can that are likely to cause you to feel impatient gives you a better chance of cutting through the problems.
Leave Plenty of Time for Everything
The biggest source of impatience and frustration often has to do with time. If you find that you're hurrying your aging family member along a great deal of the time, then time management is likely to be a big problem. The best method to use to combat this issue is to make sure that you're always leaving plenty of time in your senior's schedule for her to accomplish what you're asking of her. It also helps to let other people who help her, including elder care providers, know what sort of time constraints work best for her.
Learn What You Can Control and What You Have to Let Go Of
You may be able to control quite a bit of the situation that can frustrate you, but certainly not all of them. For those situations, you need to have a method to manage your reaction rather than the situation. Learn deep breathing techniques or meditation techniques that you can tap into at a moment's notice. The more tools that you give yourself, the better.
There are plenty of situations that warrant impatience as a response, but as a caregiver, you might need to rethink how you approach impatience on the whole. Figuring out how to limit situations that are likely to make you feel impatient is a more thorough solution.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Senior Care in Santa Monica, CA, please call Mom's Home Care and talk to our friendly, knowledgeable staff. Our number is 323-244-4789.
