^{Photo by Ivan Samkov}

Caregiving can be tiring, especially for someone who has to attend to the needs of a stranger. And we might not be aware of their daily struggles, whether from the front or behind the scenes. Let’s discuss those everyday struggles and the ways we can do to understand their job better.

Caregiving is a job that requires a lot of movement and a deep level of commitment. Caregiving is not a tiring desk job. It is demanding, and caregivers have little time for family and friends. They have no time to pursue their hobbies while still keeping their jobs. Caregivers do not maintain a work-life balance. Pursuing a career in caregiving, one must accept the many challenges they will face. Being a caregiver is challenging but rewarding for those pursuing a career.

So let’s dive deep into the everyday struggles caregivers face.

Time management

Caregivers face an exhausting schedule when they devote their personal time to providing care to another. This is also true for someone who provides care as a career and not to family or friends. Caregivers often accept the tasks at hand without regard for their personal well-being.

Even so, that shouldn’t be normalized.

Many caregivers stated that they barely have time for self-care and lose track of how much they’ve invested in the process in terms of time. To avoid this from worsening, keeping a daily journal of tasks will help organize their thoughts and prioritize their duties accordingly.

Less privacy

This coincides with a need for more time management. Caregiving requires you to be close to patients so their needs are constantly met. It is also necessary, especially for physically or verbally impaired patients who cannot communicate well.

Some patients even need round-the-clock care, particularly those in critical condition. Within this rigorous schedule, little time for eating, resting, sleeping, break times, etc., is allotted to caregivers. This setup may lead to depression, loneliness, and fatigue among caregivers.

A way to curb this is to be active in social groups that may help caregivers relieve stress. Having a group, one can consider as friends of sorts may provide enough support and encouragement that a tired caregiver needs.

Local groups offer a caregiving-specific type of social companionship, which can be a great place to start for caregivers looking for people to lean on. Even social media platforms have subgroups that caregivers can hop into to talk and interact with within their online community.

Relationship burdens

Caregiving can take away the time to date or spend precious moments with own family members. The job can take up so many hours that caregivers would’ve given to people who are important to them on a personal level.

To avoid straining such relationships, being honest about not having time with others is vital. Caregivers should give their families, friends, significant others, or the ones-to-be that they probably won’t be able to be with them often.

Their loved ones are equally, if possible, more valuable than having a money-making career, so they should be heavily considered when balancing priorities. Caregivers need constant reassurance, too, so they shouldn’t feel like a burden to their loved ones.

Family, friends, or significant others who don’t care about the burdens of being a caregiver should be disregarded and let go. These people need a complete understanding of what the job entails. The genuine people in their lives will always be considerate of the everyday struggles of caregiving.

All-around stress

Caregivers should have a good source of stress management so they can cope better with their job-related problems. The pent-up stress levels can manifest in physical, mental, and emotional stress.

No one should be afraid to ask for help. Caregivers need an excellent de-stressing session on how to navigate the caregiver’s challenges better. They could try spending a few minutes walking around the neighborhood early in the morning before beginning their caregiving duties.

They can try different self-care methods to relieve them of the stress piling up inside to prevent any eventual spillover. It’s also crucial for them to know that no minor mishaps should rob them of the simple joys in their life.