When I first experienced exhaustion as a carer I did not like how it felt in my body and looked for ways to resolve it.
As a live-in carer, I worked with a lady with Parkinson Disease who also happened to be very hyperactive, she considered herself an owl and loved late nights. Days started early – first medication 7am, and ended late 12am. At the start, the usual time off wasn’t possible as this lady initially could not be left alone, for fear she would wander off (this proved not to be true).
The constant feeling of exhaustion bugged me – I hated it.
I loved my job and resisted projecting the client to be the problem. I wanted it to work and instead looked at myself. What could I do differently? How could I be different?
I learned to overcome exhaustion by changing my relationship with work, the client and my daily rhythms.
A wise friend offered a way by suggesting waking up earlier. I changed my daily rhythms, instead of waking up just before the client at 7am, I set my alarm for 4am. This allowed me to follow on-line exercise and other classes, take time preparing for the day and bathe. By the time 7am arrived I was well awake, prepared and ready for the day.
If I couldn’t leave the site, I used the official ‘break’ time to walk around the garden. And when safe for the client to be left alone at home, always took a daily walk rather than sit and indulge with TV or screen activity.
At the end of the day, supported by the client’s family I negotiated 9.30 pm as the hour she could begin to get ready for bed – it took another hour to get her into bed as she had her own nightly beauty routines to follow. Bedtime was always around 11pm, but rather than bearing resentment, I saw it as ‘this is how it is’ here.
When I took responsibility for the exhaustion that came with working with this new client, new job, new residence and location, everything changed. Waking up at 4am, practising meditation, exercising, writing, bathing, meant my days started with a solid foundation.
My body fuelled itself.
I ate well – zero caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, sugar, or sweet things.
This rhythm, followed daily, became the fuel that cured exhaustion.
Instead of exhaustion I was given energy. My tenure with this beautiful lady lasted six years and ended when she died.