Weekly Newsletter:

May 27, 2026

Tips for a Busy Life: Caring for Yourself

So You Can Care for Others

In the last Tips for a Busy Life: Caring for Yourself So You Can Care for Others article, we discussed tips on making your life a bit easier when it comes to meal prepping and nutrition. This week we’ll be discussing time management. We all know there are just not enough hours in a day. We find ourselves sacrificing in some areas to meet expectations in other areas. Often these sacrifices are personal time, whether self-care time, hobbies, time with friends, or other events that would give us a break from time commitments like work, caregiving, family duties, and more. While there isn’t a magic time wand that can fix these conflicting commitments, there are a few things you can implement to prioritize and manage your time the best it can be managed.

Use a planner or calendar app. It sounds cliche, I know. You may have even tried one or 30 times to keep up with one and it hasn’t stuck. But committing to having your time scheduled in a way that you can visualize combats the mentality we often fall into that we just don’t have enough time. Seeing things blocked off reminds us of what we need to do, but also shows us the time we have in between time commitments we can’t change. Even if it’s only 10 minutes, any amount of time you can identify in your day to day will lend itself well to more productive and self-care focused time management.
Recognize that no amount of time is too small. Like I just mentioned, you may only find 10 minute gaps in your day sometimes. But those 10 minutes can be used to support you in so many ways. Maybe you commit to listening to an audiobook for 10 minutes on your car ride to your mother’s house from work, maybe you spend 10 minutes taking a walk before you go get the kids from school, maybe you spend 10 minutes sitting still with your eyes closed on your work break. There’s a lot of things that can be done in 10 minutes! Brainstorm a few ideas of what 10 minutes could be for you.
Be intentional. Being intentional with your time is the easiest way to make it feel like there’s more hours in a day. You don’t always have to have a plan per se, but you can be intentional. Maybe you have three hours on a Saturday morning and you want to go wherever the wind takes you. Plan to be spontaneous! Set aside the time you identify and be intentional about using it. Identifying the time you have without intention to use it nullifies the work you did identifying it.
Prioritize yourself when you can. This is hard, especially as a caregiver, as a parent, as anyone who has responsibilities in taking care of others. We have put out many articles on the importance of self-care and have talked about why you can’t care for others to the best of your ability unless you care for yourself. Caring for yourself may mean prioritizing yourself over others at times. Of course there are some non-negotiables in your caregiving duties, but there may be some that could be flexible. Maybe you change the time you do certain duties or maybe you ask a friend or family member for help once or twice a week. Create time where possible; be creative in the areas you can be to maximize the time you have to prioritize yourself.
Inform those around you of your time management goals. It’s often easier to stick to a goal when you share that goal with someone you care about. That person can help hold you accountable to your goal, offer encouragement, or even offer ideas to help you meet that goal. If you want to prioritize your time better, talk with a friend or family member about why you want to and what you hope to accomplish. Give them an update at least once a week on what you’re doing to accomplish your goals. Remember, taking care of yourself is taking care of others. You’re allowed to have support too.

I hope some of these tips and ideas resonated with you. There are so many complications when it comes to your schedule as a caregiver. It often feels overwhelming to have varying commitments when there just never seems to be enough time to do them. Be creative, find what works for you. You will thank yourself later if you find time for yourself now.