What Would You Do With an Hour or More of Free Time?
Is it Challenging to Find Time for Yourself?
What Would You Do With an Hour or More of Free Time?
Imagine if you have a “fairy godmother” and they have granted you five wishes. Unlike other fairy godmothers, they give you five wishes of different amounts of free time.
You can choose to do whatever you want to during your free time – except you can’t choose to do “errands or chores“ as an activity. This intentionally excludes “errands and chores“ because, even though a caregiver may feel behind in your household tasks, you likely will always feel that way. Chores may make you feel more caught up, but not rejuvenated or refreshed.
So if:
You had 15 minutes of free time
You had one hour of free time
You had three hours of free time
You had an entire day of free time
You had a weekend free of any caregiving responsibilities
What would YOU choose to do?
This exercise enables you to consider what you need and would like in your life.
(Adapted from Savvy Caregiver Training)
There are several ways to free up some time for your respite or self-care:
Ask a friend, neighbor, family member, or church volunteer to visit with your person living with dementia.
Hire a companion-type aide to spend time with your person, such as reading, games, or going to a museum, park or other peaceful venue.
Bring them to a senior center, adult community center, or adult day care.
Register them for an Alzheimer’s Association early stage program, such as Memories in the Making.
Schedule a short, temporary stay at a care community for your person.
I would like to give you a helpful, erasable magnetic memo board which displays self-care tips and ”to do” reminders as a thank you for scheduling a consultation or referring someone to me who does. See the photo below.
