Five Ways to Do a Stress Check

By Andy Niska | February 7, 2019 |

Doing a stress check allows you to assess where you stand right now as a caregiver. As you gain more experience in checking your needs, you’ll find that you get to the “right” answer more quickly. When you give yourself what you need, your stress is going to diminish.

Examine Your Physical Needs.

Home Care in Spokane WA: Five Ways to Do a Stress Check

Physical needs are really easy for a caregiver to ignore. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Tired? Any of these needs can put you in a position where you’re very quickly stressed. Stop and ask yourself what you need and then do what you can to meet those needs as quickly as possible.

Examine Your Emotional Needs.

If your physical needs are well met, take a look at your social and emotional needs. Feeling disconnected from family members and friends can be a huge source of stress. Start making it a habit to reach out to friends and to family on a regular basis. Even a quick text message or voicemail can help you to feel connected again.

Look at Your Surroundings.

Your physical surroundings can be causing you more stress than you realize. Clutter, even in small amounts, can be a visual annoyance that distracts you. Take a quick look around and if there’s one thing you can put away or clean up, try it. You don’t have to do more than that one thing, either. Sometimes that little bit of action can help you to feel a little more grounded.

Reach out for Some Help.

When these types of activities aren’t cutting the stress, you’re more than a little stressed and need to take bigger action. Odds are good that you’re not taking breaks or allowing yourself down time from caregiving. This is when hiring home care providers can be exactly what you need. They can hold down the fort while you take longer periods of time away. You’ll come back refreshed and finding that daily stress management is easier.

Find One Positive Thing to Appreciate.

To maintain your stress relief, look around and find one thing each day that you can fully appreciate. It might be that your coffee was perfect this morning, but that absolutely counts. This activity helps you to keep your attitude positive when you might feel that things around you are going wrong.

Try to make regular stress checks a part of your daily routine. At least twice a day, ask yourself some of these questions to determine if there’s something you can do right now to make the situation better. As this becomes a habit, you’ll naturally be doing more during each day to manage stress before it builds up.

If you or an aging loved one are considering home care in Spokane, WA, please contact the friendly staff at Love in Home Senior Care, today. Call (509) 474-0663

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Andy Niska

Owner at Love In Home Senior Care

Andy has over 20+ years experience in the medical community and has a true compassion for seniors. With a degree in Health Care Administration, he developed a background in a variety of health care services that only comes from first hand experience. While working as a manager of a large clinic and as an account executive for medical suppliers. Andy has built valuable relationships with the medical community.

His role in Love In Home Senior Care is to educate people on what care choice is the best fit for the senior and their family while attempting to make this decision as stress-free as possible for everyone involved.

This decision making process should be smooth and stress free for everyone, including all family members and their loved ones. Having access to people with experience (like the team at Love In Home Senior Care) to assist you along the way can help this process. With an extensive background in health care, Andy has the experience needed to guide and direct your loved one to the choice that is the best fit.