20+ Ideas for Managing Caregiver Stress
Caregiver wellness looks different for everyone. It can often feel difficult to focus on yourself and manage your stress because of all your caregiving demands. Remember that taking care of yourself essential. By taking time to put your wellness first, you will feel more well-rested and energized to take care of your care recipient.
There is also no right or wrong way to take care of yourself! See the list below for examples of activities to help you manage caregiver stress.
Go for daily walks
Eat a healthy meal
Exercise
Yoga
Create art
Garden
Get a massage
Take a bath
Light a candle with a calming scent
Read
Organize your photos
Write a letter
Listen to your favorite music
Meet up with friends
Call someone you love
Listen to guided meditations
Talking with your care recipient
Pray
Attend a caregiver support group
Attend therapy
Gratitude journal
Drink tea
Clean your space
Bake or cook a favorite recipe
Sit outside in nature
Go to a park
Play with your pet
Go to a religious service
Take photos
Put It Into Action!
Now that you’ve identified some stress relieving activities, try to schedule them into your routine. Answer the following questions to help you get started:
What would you like to spend 15 more minutes doing today?
What are you willing to spend 15 minutes less of to make time for this?
Feel Like You Don’t Have Time?
Use these tips to help:
Start with doing an activity for 2 minutes rather than 15 minutes.
Break down an activity into smaller steps. For example, make cookie dough today and bake it tomorrow.
Write down why that activity is important to you.
Be time specific instead of task specific. For example, set aside 15 minutes for yourself at 3:00pm. At 3:00 you can decide how you will use that time.
Complete an activity despite how you feel, you might feel differently after you do it!
Consider This!
Write down a detailed goal that includes:
What activity do you want to do more of?
Who needs to be included?
When do you want to do this?
How often will you do this?
