Recognizing your stress signals

Send Cathy a text:)Caregiver stress and overwhelm is inevitable and the key is to keep it at a low level so it doesn't affect your health, performance or the care you give your loved one.   You may become so used to the stresses and pressure, that you just accept them.  But my question is are you accepting the stresses, tasks, or things coming at you?The biggest mistakes I see other caregivers make is filling up their days with everything they need to do (doctor appointments, errands, care for their loved one, work, household jobs, and on and on) and they put themselves last.Or the other mistakes is they ignore the feelings, thoughts and triggers their mind is telling then.  By not putting ourselves first, what happens?   Usually we become burnt out, exhausted, and miserable.   It’s important to recognize your triggers - meaning what things are not you.  Are you more emotional than normal?  What are these?Why are they happening?Are you forgetting things?  Are you not yourself?How is your work performance?Are you feeling sick?Are you experiencing muscle aches?Are you sleeping?Are you eating?Are you becoming dependent on alcohol, drugs, sugar or caffeine?  These are all signs that you shouldn’t ignore.  Stop and take some time to reflect on you.  Then look for ways to ease your workload.  Ways to make things easier.  Can you ask for help?  Can you eliminate things?  You can’t do everything.  OutsourcingHelp with houseworkFamily helpThen where can you add time for yourself  If you ran a business and your employees were overworked and not happy and making mistakes, what would you hope the CEO would do?   Taking care of yourself is like a piePhysical well-being (sleep, diet, activity)Emotional well-being  (feelings, thoughts)Spiritual well-being (gratitude and joy)Social - relationships with famly, friends, community and your loved one.  All 4 of these together and at it highest in the caregiving space is magical.  But reality is that it’s a work in progress.     That’s why it’s so important to schedule yourself time to do your own personal assessment  and ask yourself where am I at.  If you are listening to this as it comes out, I have one more free masterclass training left on Wednesday, November 3 at 4pm CST.   go to cathylvan/com/freemasterclass to register.    In this training, I go through my 3 shifts that help me take control of my caregiver stress.   Support the show