Sleeping Badly? These Tips Can Help
When you’re not sleeping well you’re more likely to be irritable and everything seems to take longer than it should in order to get it done. Improving your sleep can improve more than you think about your entire caregiving experience.
Elderly Care in Evanston IL: Tips for Better Sleep
Create a Space that’s Just for Sleep.
You might find that you’re multitasking in your bedroom and even in your bed. You might be taking paperwork to bed to work on for your senior or you’re allowing other aspects of life to infiltrate your room. Clear all of that out and make sure that your bedroom and your bed are a haven just for sleeping. When that’s the only task you’re performing there, your brain will associate calm, peace, and sleep with that space again.
Put a Routine in Place.
The human brain likes routines. Routines help your mind and even your body to know what’s coming next which can be incredibly soothing. Start putting a bedtime routine in place for yourself. Once you know your elderly family member is settled, it’s time for you to put your routine into motion. Your routine might include a cup of herbal tea, a chapter of a favorite book, and then some meditation. Whatever works to help you relax and ease into sleep is what you need to start doing.
Cut Your Worrying Time in Half.
Often caregivers find that they’re spending a lot of time in which they could be sleeping worrying about what’s happening with their aging adult. Start tracking how much you’re worrying and look for ways to reduce that time. You might try using a timer and actively worry for five or ten minutes at a time. Then, when random worries pop up, dismiss them until it’s time to officially worry again.
Outsource Whatever Is Keeping You Up.
If you’re finding that worries are still keeping you up, write them down. This is a problem that you need to solve somehow. In many cases, these worries are related to the fact that you have too much to do. Start outsourcing some of these tasks to elderly care providers and see if your worries list decreases. You’re probably going to find that your list decreases rapidly.
When you do finally start getting the sleep that you need, you’ll be amazed at how that impacts your ability to be a caregiver. Sleep is a vital aspect of keeping you going with all that you need to do. You can’t afford to ignore it with the hopes that you’ll eventually catch up.
If you or an aging loved one are considering elderly care in Evanston, IL, contact the caring staff at Companion Services of America today at (847) 943-3786. Our home care service area includes Northbrook, Highland Park, Deerfield, Glenview, Buffalo Grove, Evanston, Des Plaines, Skokie, Lake Forest, Wilmette and the surrounding areas.
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