As a family caregiver, we juggle many competing priorities – our own family, our jobs, the needs of our care recipients, and our own health. It’s a lot! So how do we decide what we are willing to take on and what we need to say no to? This episode shares 11 questions to ask yourself before adding a new commitment.
Listen to the show: Managing Competing Priorities
Words of Encouragement
Each episode starts off with a few words of inspiration or motivation that is pulled from the Happy Healthy Caregiver Jar.
Links & Resources Mentioned
- The nest painting from my sister Susie Morrell’s oil painting gallery that inspired this analogy about living in the sandwich generation:
- I compare being a mom in the sandwich generation to being a mama robin feeding a nest of hungry birds. Look how hard the mama robin works (and dad is helping, too!).
- More information from Happy Healthy Caregiver about Goal Setting, Managing a Family Calendar, and Asking for Help from Others
- My husband Jason’s Caregiver Spotlight so you can get his perspective about living in the sandwich generation
- Here are the 11 questions to evaluate if what you are spending time on is time well spent:
- Is this an emergency? Can the requester do this by their self?
- Am I the only person that can do this successfully?
- Do I have general interest in taking this on?
- Do I have the energy to take this on with what else is going on?
- Is it a long term commitment?
- Does the family calendar say I’m available?
- Is this a need or a want?
- Does it align with my personal and family goals?
- Will I need to sacrifice something important in exchange?
- Have my minimum self-induced requirements been met (e.g. have I seen mom at least once this week, have I worked out a minimum of 5 days, have I spent quality time with my family) ?
- Do I need to talk this over with Jason?
- Schedule your free 30 minute consultation with Elizabeth who is a Certified Caregiving Consultant.
Favorite moments & quotes from the episode
Take Action
Pay it forward. Tell someone who you see is stretched thin that you think they are doing a remarkable job and explain why you feel this way.
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