Self Care for Working Caregivers

There’s a popular saying—and you’ve definitely heard it: The days are long but the years are short. (Everyone from influencers on IG to that older woman who stops you as you walk with your kids down the street will say it.)  

It couldn’t be truer. Weeks just go by in a blur. There’s the morning rush of breakfast, meltdowns, and missing socks. After work, there’s dinner and zipping everyone off to their activities. By the time your child or children are in bed, you’re almost ready to conk out yourself. Because tomorrow is another day. And then suddenly, you’re trying to remember when the last time you took a minute out to focus on you. 

What have you done for yourself today? Setting aside time for self-care is crucial to inject joy into your days and weeks and slow that speedy march of time. Because when you stop and focus on yourself—or your relationship with your partner or friends—you can reconnect with the things you love so you can show up for your family and be refreshed and ready to tackle another day or week at your job. 

So, cheers to guilt-free you time. Here’s how to find your passion and likes and build more of those opportunities into your days and weeks:

Weekends can be a tough one. After a heck of a week, you want some good, quality family time. But, you also want some alone time—and so does your partner. What’s more, one of the tenants of happiness is to do more of the things you love. Rather than divvying up the weekend hours, schedule an afternoon of Helpr hours and you can go play golf while your spouse does their thing. Or, if you two have a shared interest, you can team up and go hiking together or score tickets to that cool museum exhibit. The only rule is that it has to be about you and it should be kid-free. 

Self-care doesn’t have to be a weekly or once-in-a-while well-planned event. For instance, if a morning run or yoga class helps you better slay stress all day, then that activity is a powerful bit of self-care for you. But you know if you don’t book this into your schedule as a non-negotiable event, things might pop up that make you cancel on yourself. So, plan for this with your Helpr and extend their time to accommodate your activity. Or, if your mother-in-law told you to go to Happy Hour with a few friends, then accept her offer to stay late and make the kids their favorite finger foods. (Don’t forget to use the Upload Your Own Provider feature.) Trust us, you’ll be glad you did. 

Grab Micro Moments

What can you do for yourself right now? Can you put down your phone, avoid answering emails and just sit and breathe? Would it help to go outside for some fresh air? Order take-out tonight instead of worrying about making that Pinterest meal? Ignore the three baskets of toys your kids spilled on the floor and read a few pages of that book you’re loving? Embrace mini opportunities to find your chill. 

You know how life-giving your friendships are—and how you feel like your old self again when with your favorite people—but there’s one problem: You’re all working parents and getting together requires a very choreographed dance of schedule adjustments. Now that small gatherings at home can be a thing again, you can invite a group of friends over with their kids and hire a Helpr to have extra hands on deck so you can spend more time focusing on catching up.  

You don’t have to do it all. That’s tough for a working parent to hear, but really you don’t and you can relinquish control to someone else. Research suggests that the act of “buying time”—for example, spending money on time-saving services, like hiring a once-a-month cleaning crew or scheduling your teen neighbor to mow your lawn—promotes happiness. And what can you do with that extra time? Dedicate it to the self-care of your choice.