“When I drop him off I feel 20 years younger….”

Modern life is exhausting with excessive demands on your time and attention. Constantly plugged in, it’s easy to feel stressed out even in your “downtime.”

When you’re ready to hit a wall you know you can take a break from work, pass the responsibility to someone else, push the pause button and relax by the pool.

The danger of this is you can end up slowing down too much.

Back at work, how long does it take you to feel frazzled again, as if you have never been away at all? About an hour? As long as it takes you to open your inbox?

How do you relax just enough that you don’t end up dreading the thought of tuning back into reality?

Managing life is one thing. Managing a life packed full of caring duties is in a different league.

Relaxation can be your best friend or your enemy. Perhaps it seems easier to keep on going than to stop and take a break.

It’s all about achieving a sense of balance. When you come to the Me2U Centre with your loved one, we want you to return feeling relaxed and refreshed and ready to take up your caring responsibilities with renewed vigour.

We don’t want you to feel sad, resentful or frustrated because you’ve had a taste of life outside your caring role. What is essential is to relax in the right way.

Re-energise without resentment

“When you’re not with them, you need to switch off. You need to energise and that will make you a better carer or a better supporter because you’ve had time.”

Finding the balance

It may require some trial and error to discover the best balance for you between relaxing so much it makes you unhappy to take on your caring duties and coming back revitalised, but here are some suggestions:

Switch off

Take some time out from answering your phone or responding to social media. It may be hard, but these distractions make winding down difficult if not impossible.

Take breaks on a regular basis

If you have a break once a week or once a fortnight, you know it’s always in the diary and coming up. Mentally it’s a milestone you know you can reach, which makes your daily grind seem less of a struggle.

Socialise

Meet your old friends and do something you always enjoy. Social isolation can be a major factor contributing to depression and low moods, so getting out and seeing friends is essential to your wellbeing.

How Me2U Centre can help you relax

Me2U provides a range of flexible options, from looking after your loved one for one or two hours to full days. We can also provide some overnight respite care when required.

You can block book your days with us so you don’t have to make single arrangements every time.

You know we are here for you, which means you don’t need to worry about asking someone else to relieve you for an emergency doctor’s appointment or a wedding or any other special event. We can be your first port of call.

Need to swap your day? Not a problem. You can easily move your day if something comes up at very short notice.

Me2U Centre is here to make every moment count; that includes your moments.

 

Read more about how to spend your free time.