Why Caregivers Need a Different Approach to Building Their Dreams

Building a business, writing a book, creating art, or chasing any dream while caregiving doesn’t look the same as it does for everyone else. As a caregiver and creator, I’ve had to learn that productivity isn’t always about finding more time. Sometimes it’s about learning how to use the little pockets of time we already have.

When I first started out on my journey many years ago as a solopreneur, I had a lot to learn.

So I dove into every training, every webinar, and every group you could think of. I received coaching from some of the best of the best—Tony Robbins, Dean Graziosi, Chalene Johnson, Rachel Miller, just to name a few.

I learned a lot from them, and much of what I learned I still practice today. But there was one thing missing in all those years of coaching.

My lifestyle.

You see, being a caregiver means I walk a different path than those who are not. Our time is not limitless. It’s invaluable. Our schedules can be so unpredictable that planning anything is a challenge, to say the least.

It wasn’t until the last couple of years that I really started going my own way. I stopped listening so much to the coaches and mentors telling me how I should be doing things and started figuring out what would actually work for my life.

That’s when I discovered the pockets of time I was wasting.

Those five minutes here and there. The ten minutes waiting for my MIL to shower. Thirty minutes waiting for my son’s transportation to bring him home. Even the little bit of time I have while cooking dinner.

Now, let me make something clear. Sitting down for five minutes because you need to rest is not wasted time. As caregivers, sometimes we need those five minutes to do absolutely nothing.

I’m talking about those times when I picked up my phone to check one thing and twenty minutes later realized I had been scrolling through Facebook, looking at what everyone else was doing instead of doing something I wanted to do.

When I realized how often that was happening, things changed.

I also had to learn to recognize another huge time thief in my life—the rabbit hole.

It is easy for me to get caught up in one for a very long time, and I have to be aware of it. I still do today.

Just the other night, technology got the best of me. I was working in Lightroom because I wanted to update my Etsy shop when I noticed something wasn’t right.

Well, I couldn’t let it go.

I had to fix what was wrong.

Three hours later, there went my night—and the problem still wasn’t resolved.

These kinds of rabbit holes will suck the time right away from you.

Are you listening to me, friend?

I always speak and write from experience. I had a limited amount of time after everyone went to sleep, and I spent way too much of it trying to fix an issue that could have waited.

I could have been writing two chapters in my new book, Between Fear and Faith: Surviving Hurricane Michael.

Instead, Lightroom sucked me in.

As caregivers, we try to cram so much into what little time we have. Agree? So where is the happy balance? What are we supposed to do, especially when we’re multipassionate entrepreneurs?

For me, a big part of the answer is organization.

I know. That’s hard when your plate is already overflowing. Trust me, I know. That’s exactly how I ended up three hours deep in Lightroom.

I had been neglecting one of the things I preach all the time—staying organized with your business, your dreams, your writing, or whatever it is you’re building.

When your life is already full, knowing what actually deserves your next pocket of time becomes even more important.

And sometimes it isn’t the broken thing in Lightroom.

We Don’t Walk the Same Timeline

This may be one of the biggest lessons I’ve had to learn.

We don’t walk the same timeline as others in our industries who aren’t caregivers.

Someone may tell you that you need to post three Notes a day and publish one or two articles a week.

But let’s be realistic.

If you’re running to doctors, managing medications, making meals, dealing with appointments, answering phone calls, and caring for someone you love, sometimes you’re lucky to get on the computer or your phone for anything creative at all that day.

We have to give ourselves grace.

Take this article, for instance.

Remember, I say I practice what I preach.

This morning I got my mother-in-law’s shower done and got her insulin pump back up and running. My son had already left for his day program, but I knew that if I didn’t go outside and take care of the seedlings in my greenhouse, they were going to die.

Number one on my list.

I didn’t finish everything outside, but I came in to get a drink and cool off for a few minutes before going back out.

There it was. A pocket of time.

I could have done the dishes. I could have checked on friends and family on Facebook. I could have started scrolling.

Instead, I decided to write this.

I may not be the smartest cookie on the block, but these little pockets of time—which is what I love to call them—have become my golden times.

Five minutes here. Fifteen minutes there. Thirty minutes while I’m waiting for someone. They add up.

The gurus may tell you not to rush something if you only have fifteen minutes. Wait until you have a big block of uninterrupted time. Set aside a whole day to work on something.

I call BS on that.

Caregivers don’t always have that luxury.

If I waited until I had an entire uninterrupted day to write, create, work on my photography, build my business, or chase one of the other dreams bouncing around in my head, I’d probably still be waiting.

I’ve had to learn to create differently.

I try not to preach or act as if I know everything, because I certainly don’t. But lately I’ve seen people—not just here, but in general—get frustrated and overwhelmed because they feel like they can’t keep up.

I hate seeing it because I’ve been there.

I especially remember feeling that way during my years in network marketing. Oh Lord, did I feel like an outcast sometimes.

Everyone else seemed to be doing all the things they were supposed to be doing, and I couldn’t. I just didn’t have that kind of time.

It took me years to understand something I wish someone had told me back then:

I didn’t need to build like they did. And neither do you.

Before I close this out, I want you to know that I want nothing but the best for you. We are not in competition with each other. We are each one of a kind, trying to build our dreams around lives that don’t always fit neatly into someone else’s business plan.

We are caregivers, but we’re also dreamers, writers, artists, entrepreneurs, and creators. That is what Caregiver to Creator was born for.

So don’t give up on something you love because you can’t keep up with someone else’s timeline. Find those little pockets of time and use them when you can. Give yourself grace when you can’t.

There is a way to build differently, even when your time isn’t always your own.