Working At Home While Caring For A Loved One

by Debbie Reyes

I often sit and wonder "where did the day go?" I know there are 24 hours in the day, 8 of which I spend sleeping. So that still leaves me 16 hours to get my daily activities done. Funny, how 16 hours sure does seem like 6.

But after going through a month of not knowing if I was coming or going and swearing I got cheated some hours from my day, because well, I didn't know where they had gone. I decided to sit down and make a plan. This way I would be more organized. I have always been pretty detail oriented, until I was faced with having to take care of my husband who is ill. Something I was not prepared to do at age 37. But I guess this is how is was suppose to be, so instead of becoming depressed I decided, I would just accept my fate and make the best of it.

Although my husband is very dependent on me, I have found ways for him to depend more on himself. I have done this by making everything easier and more accessible for him. Making him feel like he could still do things for himself so that he wouldn't feel helpless. And of course easier on me. Taking care of a sick loved one can be very demanding and can easily drain all your energy. But I have come up with my own plan of attack, so that we both can benefit from it.

So this is my plan that I came up with to make my life a little easier and so that I would still have time to pursue my Home Based Business.

Anyone caring for a loved one, can benefit from some of these ideas, so please use them to your advantage.

Make sure any and all doctor appointments are scheduled as early as possible, this way you have the rest of the day to do other things. I find that afternoon doctor appointments take up most of your day and leaves you feeling like you lost time somewhere.

My favorite thing to do so that I don't feel pressed for time, is to cook meals ahead of time. I pick Sundays as my day to cook all my meals for the week. I buy my groceries on Saturday night, then Sunday morning I get up and start cooking, I cook about 8 different meals on this day. I let them all cool down, then I put a serving amount in a ziploc baggy and freeze it. This way during the week, when my family is hungry, they can get out a pack of the entree they choose and microwave it, and presto dinner is served. No mess, no hassle, and keeps you out of the kitchen.

Also another time saver I do for my husband is, I have five sets of clothes folded all together and set up for him in a special shelf in the bathroom. It has his underwear, pants, shirt and socks. All folded together. This way when he goes to shower, he has everything he needs there. No calling out to me, that he forgot something, or can't find this or that. This keeps me from having to run around getting his clothes together. Works very well

On his side of the bed, I have put both night stands there, on one he has all his meds, creams and lotions. On the other night table I invested in a mini fridge, I keep bottled water and a few snacks. This in itself is a big help, because him being a diabetic he is always thirsty, so I was always having to go fill his glass with water. Now he reaches over and gets his own bottled water. (I love those people that invented the mini fridge.)

I also keep his cane, his crutches and his wheelchair close by the bed. We never know what kind of day it will be for him. Some days, he can get by with just the cane, other days he needs the crutches and some days its the wheelchair. But with them being close by, he has access to them on his own, and doesn't have the need to wake me up as often.

Now with all these short cuts I have taken not only have I helped him to help himself, but I have cut my workload in half. This way I can now spend more time on my home based business. My home based business is now more important to me than ever, with him not working I know our future will depend on my success in my business. I have confidence that I will succeed, just as anyone else who starts their own home business will, as long as they are as determined as I am to succeed.

If you find yourself in the same situation as mine, having to care for a loved one while starting your own business then please follow all or some of my advice, it has worked for me and know it will work for you.

Also, if you are not caring for a loved one, but find yourself pressed for time, then I do recommend my tip of precooking your meals this alone will save you time in the kitchen. You will be grateful you did that when your family asks, "what's for dinner".