Working Caregiver- Self Care
Your diet can also have a major impact on your level of productivity
Rest and Revive the Body and Mind for a More Productive Day
No matter how busy you are, even you working caregivers out there know that eating and sleeping is crucial to your survival, even if they are tasks that are inconvenient to fit into your daily life. We've all been there; foraging on snack items while preparing a lunch for our elderly care recipients or missing a meal entirely without even realizing because there's just so much to do. The thing is, skipping meals or getting a poor night's sleep really isn't doing any favors to our hectic schedules, and with a little bit more focus on these aspects, we might even be able to manage a few minutes in each day that's all about us, rather than our care recipients, children, careers and household management.
To be at their prime, we busy working caregivers need to sleep until we're rested. This is different for everyone - while some might thrive on 5 hours, others might need 9 or 10. It might feel like you're wasting the day away in bed, but you'll manage to get twice as much done throughout the day when you're more alert and able to focus on the tasks at hand with your full, conscious attention. With the stresses of day-to-day life that comes with being a caregiver, it can be a challenge to fall and stay asleep despite the need for increased rest, so shift your focus to trying meditation or yoga to relax, or simply set the mood in a dark and quiet environment. It's been estimated that simply by sleeping longer and better, you will manage to regain an hour and a half of productive and effective time throughout your day.
Your diet can also have a major impact on your level of productivity since it directly impacts energy; as a working caregiver with too much on her plate, you need everything you can get. The number one rule is to make sure you eat, but on top of that, also ensure that you're making smart food choices. Drink lots of water, and maintain a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains. Taking a few minutes to fuel your body at mealtimes everyday adds no additional time to your day, since as a working caregiver you'll already be serving meals to your care recipient or your children, dish up something healthy for yourself as well and you'll find that you've got so much energy, you'll cut another hour and a half out of the time it takes to get through your daily routine!
With your sleeping patterns and diet in check, working caregivers, all you need to do is decide what you're going to do with the free time you never knew you had!
Via: Gaia
