Holiday Self-Care Tips for Caregivers: Finding Balance During the Busy Season

You qualify as a caregiver if you provide physical or psychological care for someone else. This might be a parent with dementia, a neighbor with multiple sclerosis, a child with Down syndrome — there’s no one way for a caregiving relationship to look.

Caregiving can easily become stressful and taxing. And with the holiday season often posing extra stress for everyone, whether you’re a caregiver or not, it’s wise to prepare in advance to make sure you don’t experience burnout. 

Here are some tips to help you make it through your caregiving duties in one piece during the upcoming time of year. 

Is taking time for yourself really worth it?

If you’re a full-time or part-time caregiver and you don’t always care for yourself as best you should, you’re not the only one experiencing this struggle. According to the Cleveland Clinic, many caregivers:

• Forget to take care of themselves
• Feel guilty or selfish taking care of themselves
• Are unable to take care of themselves
• Struggle financially to take care of themselves
• Don’t have enough mental function left over to take care of themselves 

It’s admirable that you’re so devoted to your loved one. But remember, you deserve the same care and attention you’re giving them. And the better you care for yourself (including your physical, emotional, and mental health), the better you’ll be able to care for someone else. 

If you don’t pause and consider your own needs, the consequences could be dire. Caregivers are at an increased risk for physical issues like high cholesterol and high blood pressure, as well as substance abuse. And approximately 46-59% of caregivers are clinically depressed. 

Take care of yourself — sooner rather than later. With the holidays coming up, there’s no time like the present to start.

Tips to balance your caregiver duties well this holiday season

Sleep, eat, and move well

They sound boring, repetitive, and prescriptive, but there’s no getting around it: To support your physical and mental health, you need to get enough sleep, follow a healthy diet, and exercise your body. Let’s look at these one by one.

Sleep might be a struggle if you provide middle-of-the-night care, or if you tend to lie awake worrying about everything you need to get done. 7-9 hours might feel impossible. If you’re able, consider asking for help to care for your loved one every second or third night so you can get a good night’s sleep on those nights. Give yourself a set bedtime and create a bedtime routine to help yourself wind down (a calming Hallmark Christmas movie might do the trick). 

Many caregivers are so busy, they forget about their own meals. Remember to feed yourself! Unless your doctor has told you otherwise, eat lots of lean protein, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Following a healthy diet can be difficult around the holidays. But don’t restrict yourself too much. Part of self-care is doing things that bring you joy, such as eating comforting, nostalgic baked goods that remind you of your childhood. 

Finally, exercise helps fight disease and improve mental health. If you feel like you don’t have time to exercise, start small. Are there leftover leaves in the yard from this fall that you could rake? Is your loved one physically able to go for a walk with you? Can you do lunges or use hand weights as you sit through endless hold music on the phone with doctor’s offices? Even though these aren’t formal workouts, they still get your body moving in a way that benefits your cardiovascular health. 

Switch things up

There might be holiday traditions that you or your family needs to adapt so that everyone can participate without overdoing it. It may be difficult to let go of the way “we’ve always done things.” But if it will support everybody’s wellbeing and allow you to have fun without going too far, it’ll be worth the change.

This might look like doing your gift shopping completely online, inviting less people for Thanksgiving dinner, or staying in to watch a movie on Christmas Eve instead of going out. Come up with creative solutions that will work well for not only the person you care for, but also for you, taking responsibilities off your plate instead of putting them on. 

Learn the art of delegation

As the holidays approach, it seems like there are more to-do’s than ever. But you don’t have to complete all of them yourself. Family and friends can help. If you’re financially able, you could also hire someone to help with items like cleaning your home or running errands. A local teenager might be a more cost-effective option.

And remember, it’s not all about getting things done. It’s also about rest. Ask someone to come sit with your loved one for a few hours, not so you can sneak away to get more work done, but so you can nap, see a friend, or sip a hot chocolate in peace.

Plan well for what’s ahead

Take some time over the holidays to sit down and consider what you need in the upcoming year. Maybe you took your loved one to a boatload of doctor appointments in the past 12 months. But how many did you attend for yourself?

Make a list of doctors you need to see next year for checkups. This might include your primary care doctor, dentist, eye doctor, dermatologist, nutritionist, and gynecologist, if relevant. Then aim to schedule one appointment per month for yourself in the upcoming year. (If you aren’t sure about your health insurance coverage, this is also the time of year to get clear about what insurance you’ll be using in the following year.)

When the calendar flips, don’t leave behind the self-care practices you’re learning. Take them with you into the new year to better maintain your health as a caregiver all year long.  

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