Make spending time with your aging parents a priority in your life today.
Sometimes it is easy to forget that our parents are aging just as we are. We get caught up in our day-to-day grind and miss out on opportunities we could have shared with them. Many people realize that they should have spent more time with their parents when it is too late, and their parent has passed. An article recently published in Business Insider magazine revealed that not spending enough time with aging parents is one of the top ten regrets that most people face over the course of their lifetime. Do yourself a favor and spend as much time with them as you can. Here are a few ways that you can free up some time in your life, and create more memories with your mom and dad.
Group Tasks Together
Between responsibilities in the office, and the workload required to take care of a home we can often feel as though we are drowning in tasks. Take the time to make a list of all the tasks that you need to complete during each month. You will be surprised at how many tasks can be grouped together to reduce the amount of time it takes to complete them. One example of a way you can group tasks together is running errands. Think before you get in the car. Can you kill two birds with one stone while you are out and about to eliminate the need to make an additional trip? Taking small steps to group tasks will go along way in freeing up your time to spend with your senior parents.
Identify Your Boundaries
Another great way to free up more time that can be spent with your aging parents is to set boundaries as far as how much time you are going to give to your commitments per week. It’s important to note that these boundaries should be realistic, as you will need to stick to them to be successful in utilizing this strategy.
As I mentioned earlier in this blog post it is easy to become engulfed in our daily commitments, and we can lose sight of what is most important to us. When identifying your boundaries set a time that you will leave work each night, and do your best to stick to the plan. As people, we should work to live and not live to work. Make sure that your co-workers also understand that you are making a commitment to leave the office on time so you can spend time with your loved ones….trust me they will understand.
Use Your Vacation Days!
I recently read an article that stated that 55% of American workers do not take all of their paid vacation time. Vacation days are meant to be taken, and we should not feel bad about using them to revamp. Vacation days are a great way to plan a day each month to spend with your senior parents. Jobs will come and go, but remember that you only have one set of parents, and once they are gone they are gone. Think of some of your parent's favorite hobbies and incorporate these into your day off plans. Does your mom and dad like to golf? Why not take them to play a round or two.
One of the hardest pains to deal with over the course of our life is the pain associated with the feeling of regret. Do yourself a favor, and free up as much time as you can to spend with your aging parents.
Come Visit Your Parents at Pleasant Escape
If your parents are residents at Pleasant Escape, we would love to have you come and visit! To learn more about our senior care community, visit https://www.pleasantescape.com/
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