What to Do When You’re Saying Yes Too Much

As a caregiver, you’re probably already doing a lot for your aging family member. But then there are the other people in your life who need help with one task or another. If you’re saying yes to those requests too often, you might find that you’re feeling irritable and overwhelmed without fully understanding why.

Practice Equivocating

You don’t have to give someone an answer right then. Sometimes the best answer is to let that person know that you need some time to think or to check your schedule. That’s a perfectly acceptable temporary answer. It also gives you some time and some space to assess the situation from a calmer perspective.

Really Think Before Answering

After you’ve bought yourself a little bit of time to think, take that time to do so. Definitely check your calendar and also check in with yourself. If you’re feeling overwhelmed already, will this make that feeling worse? That tells you that you should probably say no to whatever is being requested of you. On the other hand, if you find that you’re not feeling overwhelmed by the idea and you do have the time and the space to do whatever this is, saying yes might be the right answer.

It’s Okay to Say Yes, if Yes Works for You

The message that lots of people take away from this kind of advice is that typically they should start saying no to everything. But all that does is put you on the opposite side of the problem. Instead of saying yes to everything, suddenly you’re saying no to everything instead. There may be times when going ahead and saying yes is the right answer. You just need to make sure that it’s the right answer at the time.

Build in Some Margins So You Can Keep Saying Yes

One plan that can help quite a bit is for you to find ways to build margins into your day and your life so that when you agree to help other people, you’re not putting yourself in a huge bind. Home care providers are one way to do this. They can help you to handle tasks for your senior while you’re busy elsewhere, which frees up time and energy for you.

It’s definitely possible that you’re agreeing to do too many things, both for your aging adult and for other people in your life. Caregivers want to help people and want to take care of situations. But you also need to take care of you and that means saying no when it makes sense to do so.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Senior Care in Oakland, CA, contact the friendly staff at Home Care Professionals today.
Call (866)-940-4855

Andy Howard CEO at HomeCare Professionals

Andy Howard is a Bay Area Native who holds a BA in Political Science (University of Colorado at Boulder, ’97). After college Andy worked in the surging tech industry. His Grandmother however, would suffer a significant decline in health and ultimately needed in-home care. The experience of a loved one depending on outside help to age in place proved to be pivotal for Andy as he left the tech industry in 2002 for an opportunity in the home care world with a large provider. After having success in home care, but being frustrated by corporate constraints Andy founded HomeCare Professionals in 2005. He methodically built the company one client at a time by focusing on hiring quality caregivers to ensure positive outcomes. Currently Andy serves as the CEO of HomeCare Professionals and is also highly active in the non-profit organization California Association of Health Services at Home (CAHSAH) which advocates for a higher standard of in-home care for those who wish to remain living at home in California.

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