Caregivers in Mt. Laurel, NJ
When you first accept the responsibility of being a family caregiver for an elderly relative, you’re probably able to juggle everything. Then suddenly you realize you’re forgetting appointments or little tasks here and there. But is it really possible to take care of your loved one, your family, your job, and everything else that you have to keep track of? The good news is that getting and staying organized is definitely possible.
Use One Calendar
Since you’re likely keeping track of your own schedule, possibly a spouse’s and most likely the schedules of several kids, you probably already know that one calendar is the way to go. If you’ve got everything in one place, you’re much less likely to overlook something or forget an appointment. You can easily add in information about your elderly loved one’s schedule and appointments, too, without adding so much that you’re overwhelmed. One idea is that if you’re keeping track of a lot of medical data for your loved one, you can use a planner system with a binder that allows you to add personalized pages as you need them.
Color Code
One way to really keep track of appointments at a glance is to use color coding in your calendar. That allows you to know immediately who has what appointments or plans just by looking at the right day in the calendar. You can use one color for work, another for home, and a third for your elderly loved one. You can even use a specific color to indicate when elder care services will be taking care of tasks for your loved one. Tracking anything with a color code helps you to save time and keep information handy when it’s needed, say for your loved one’s doctors appointments. Some people avoid color coding because they don’t want to carry tons of pens. An easy way around this is to use multi-pens that have several ink colors in one barrel.
Schedule Regular Reviews
The single most important thing that you can do to stay organized once you find a system that works for you is to schedule regular reviews with yourself. Weekly and monthly reviews allow you to look over what has happened, what is upcoming, and see if anything needs tweaking in your schedule or your organizational system. You can also look at anything that you’re tracking, such as health conditions for your elderly loved one or how often you’ve contacted your loved one’s home care providers.
Once you have a system in place, you’ll be amazed at how much you’re able to juggle for yourself and for all of your loved ones.
For all of your caregivers needs in Mt. Laurel, NJ and the surrounding areas call and talk to us at Home to Stay Healthcare Solutions (856) 321-1500.
