Burnout
You are part of the care plan. Protect the person doing the caring.
Start with the essentials: recognise the early signs, ask for specific help instead of general help, and put two small non-negotiables back into your week.
The path
Four steps, in the order that helps most.
- Step 1
Name the early signs
Resentment, short temper, broken sleep, dread in the morning. These are symptoms of load, not of character.
- Step 2
Ask for help in specifics
"Can you take Tuesday 2-5pm?" gets a yes. "Let me know if you can help" never does.
- Step 3
Book two non-negotiables a week
A walk, a call with a friend, an hour with the door closed. Put them in the calendar like appointments.
- Step 4
Get one layer of outside support
A respite service, a support group, or a therapist who understands caregiving. One layer changes the whole load.
Advice to avoid
What makes this harder.
- Waiting until you collapse to accept help
- Measuring yourself against your worst day
- Cancelling your own appointments first
Quick wins
Do these this week.
- A list of five tasks someone else could do
- One recurring block of respite time
- A five-minute daily reset you can keep