Caregiving From A Business Perspective

HELLO FAMILY CAREGIVERS:

(March 26, The Last Month of First Quarter 2026)

How are you doing?

*Feeling better than when you first began Caregiving?

*Have you set or accomplished any goals that help you take better care of yourself?

*Are you feeling relaxed, overwhelmed, or simply maintaining right now?

*Maybe you are so busy caring for your Ill Loved One, you haven’t paused long enough to know how you feel or even start a Quarterly Plan? I understand how precious Caregiver Time can be.

But Caregiving is kind of like a business. Your business (yeah, you probably don’t get paid), but sometimes I found it helpful to briefly step out of the “Caring-Doing part of being a Caregiving to get a different view, from a Business Perspective.

Why? Kind of like the view you get from the bottom of the mountain. Then, after climbing to the top, a whole different view looking down, both can be breathtaking, but in different ways.

That’s why I use a Business Model-breaking down the year into quarterly views. Sometimes business is very busy and other times it seems slower. But as a Businesswoman (man) it’s sometimes more how you ride the wave than the actual business itself. We all have our peaks and valleys.

If you didn’t get around to creating your Quarterly Journal for this First Quarter of 2026 (Jan-Feb-March), the wonderful thing is you can always begin next quarter, April-May-June). It’s never too late to start.

I didn’t start my Caregiving Quarterly Plan when I began Caregiving but created it when life seemed to be overwhelming and I couldn’t handle all the legs of the octopus efficiently anymore. I was always wondering how I could make my Caregiving Journey better. Using my background in counseling I thought it would be easy. I wrote down a few ways I thought I could change but still struggled.

Then I told myself, “You’re too busy to write down goals and track them.”, and “It will get better.” Then I’d let out a long pitiful sigh. And so it went. I became a tired, overwhelmed, crabby Caregiver.

I knew I needed to talk with an expert. So I sat with my husband who loved the world of business and was very sad he had to leave his job and rely on disability as his Multiple Myeloma hindered his ability to continue working. His weekly radiation brought on fatigue, and then his chemotherapy sometimes messed with his mind.

However, he was determined to work. He loved his job in outside sales where he met all kinds of folks. He loved the business of helping them solve problems with their business so they could get back to work.

Two weeks after his first chemotherapy, Thalidomide, he was on his way home after calling on a customer. It was near dinnertime and I was surprised he wasn’t home yet. Then I got a call from him. He was in tears telling me was lost and couldn’t remember how to get home. Chemo can do that sometimes. It was then he knew he had to apply for disability, yet he remembered the plan he made the month before when he was receiving treatments with radiation, “If I can’t continue in outside sales, I’ll sell hope and cheer to cancer patients.” And that’s what he did in the many years that followed. While we waited for doctors, testing, chemo appointments, he would strike up conversations with other cancer patients, and sometimes staff, bringing smiles and laughter into the often-quiet, gloomy waiting rooms.

I stopped Wondering and Thinking “What Could I Do? and Asked Myself:

“What do I Want?”

“I want to feel better and manage my Caregiving, my life better.”

“How Can I do That?”

“Stop Wondering and Thinking and Set some goals to try out and see what works for me.”

Start small, one or two goals

Work and play around with your goals each week

At the end of every week, Review and see if they are working.

If Yes, then repeat

If No, then try a new approach by resetting What you think might be a more achievable goal for you
right now. It takes some trial and error.

Try again and see if your goal is working better and if not, set a different goal.

That’s how I inspired myself and set up my quarterly business plan. I still had some bad days, and it wasn’t perfect. However, my weekly plan held Me accountable for Me. That was the difference.

Give it a try. And if you have any questions while you’re setting this up, please email me and I’ll be happy to help you set it up and share my ideas with you. Once set up, you just work it, repeat and tweak every quarter.

Wishing you all the best…Amy