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Caregiving Hacks: 15 Ways to Ease the Burden

Seasoned caregivers share practical shortcuts to save time, reduce frustration and better support family members and friends

8-minute read

Paul Wynn,

AARP

Published November 12, 2026

a person pushing someone in a wheel chair through a maze

Vidhya Nagarajan

Key takeaways

Simple planning tools and a ready-to-share task list can make accepting help easier.
Adapting routines to a loved one’s changing abilities can reduce frustration and provide them with comfort and dignity.
Small regular breaks for enjoyable activities and exercise help caregivers make room for their own emotional needs.

An estimated 63 million Americans are caregivers, following generations who have helped loved ones through illness, disability and aging. Many take on the role without recognizing themselves as caregivers, much less knowing where to turn for help. They learn through trial and error, discovering small shortcuts that ease stress or make a difficult day more manageable.

A simple tip from someone who has been there can spare another caregiver frustration and remind them they don’t have to figure everything out alone. “When you discover something that makes caregiving a little easier, passing it along gives that hard-earned lesson a purpose,” says Debbie DeMoss Compton, author of more than a dozen books, including the best-selling series The Caregiver’s Advocate. “One practical tip can save a caregiver time and frustration and send an equally powerful message: ‘I’ve been where you are. You don’t have to figure everything out on your own.’”

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Here, eight caregivers from different backgrounds and experiences share the “hacks” they wish they’d known when they started. They range from time-saving tips, self-care routines, ways to support those living with dementia and much more.

Self-care hack

1. Keep a “yes” list for yourself. Caregiving can make “no” your default answer to almost everything. But when you have to turn down something you would enjoy doing, write it on a list called “When I Can, I Will,” says Denise Brown, founder and CEO of Caregiving Years Training Academy. Add the movie a friend recommended, the new coffee shop visit, even the wish in your head: “I wish I could just sit on the couch and do nothing.” When a window of time opens, your list is ready. “It also reminds you that right now is temporary, and there will be time to return to things you enjoy,” Brown says.

Planning hack

2. Let calendars lighten the load. Calendars are a lifeline for everyone, but especially caregivers, who track medical appointments, follow-up visits and family and personal events. “At the start of each year, I dedicate a day to schedule all of my mom’s routine medical visits for the first six months,” says Luciana Penn, who cares for her mom with Parkinson’s disease. “If my mom needs a follow-up, we book it immediately before leaving the doctor’s office,” adds Penn. “This helps me to prevent appointment pileup that leads to burnout. It also allows me to be ready to leave the house, ensuring we are not rushing or overextending ourselves.”

Time-saving hack

3. Make errands more efficient. To save time during quick errands to the pharmacy or convenience store, consider leaving your loved one safely in a car with a family member or friend on speakerphone, says DeMoss Compton, founder of caregiving consultancy The Purple Vine, who was simultaneously caring for her mother, who had vascular dementia, and her mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s disease. DeMoss Compton had struggled taking the two women shopping with her, with short errands turning into longer-than-expected trips. She started calling her sister, Brenda, who lived out of town and was glad to provide support from a distance. This time-saving approach allowed her to run in and out and finish her errands much quicker.

Health care hacks

4. Get care permissions in place early. When dealing with a health care organization, make sure to get all the authorization forms that allow you access to health care records and systems used to communicate with providers. “It’s also a good idea to complete one of their health care directives forms, as they are more likely to be able to find it in their system if the time ever comes they need to refer to it,” says Lori La Bey, founder and CEO of Alzheimer’s Speaks.

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5. Hit the record button. Seek permission to audio record doctor’s appointments or feel comfortable asking for someone else to join you in person or by phone, so there is a second pair of ears, recommends La Bey. “Medical appointments can be overwhelming and it’s nice to have backup information on what was said and what needs to be done next.” Recording apps include, Google’s Recorder and Apple’s Voice Memos, which usually comes preloaded on most iPhones. There are also AI notetakers — Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, Fathom, Granola — that sometimes offer free 30-minute services.

Delegation hack

6. Be ready when help is offered. Keep a list of specific caregiving and noncaregiving tasks — like providing a meal or picking up groceries — on an index card or in your phone’s Notes app. When friends, neighbors and family members ask how they can support you, share the list so they can pick a job that fits their comfort level, recommends DeMoss Compton. “It removes the stress of answering on the spot, eases your workload and gives willing helpers a clear, comfortable way to contribute.”

Exercise hack

7. Stay active while caregiving. Start with activities you enjoy and can realistically fit into your caregiving routine. Try a 10-minute neighborhood walk three times a week, a short workout video on YouTube or dancing to a few favorite songs in your living room, recommends Anthony Copeland-Parker, author of Running All Over the World: Our Race Against Early Onset Alzheimer’s. If a scheduled class helps you follow through, find one nearby that works with your care arrangements. “Focus on building a regular habit, then gradually add time as your schedule allows,” says Copeland-Parker.

Dementia hacks

8. Keep favorite outfits in rotation. For someone with cognitive decline, familiar clothes can offer comfort, while choosing a new outfit or changing clothes may feel overwhelming. Keeping identical sets of a favorite outfit can make laundry day easier and reduce disagreements. Jennifer Fink, host of the podcast Dementia Decoded, would buy two or three identical sets of the exact same comfortable, favorite outfit for her mom, who lived with Alzheimer’s for more than 20 years. She suggests making the “wardrobe rotation” when they go to sleep or step in the shower and swap the dirty set for the identical, clean set without a word. “They dress thinking they are putting back on their favorite clothes with zero arguments,” says Fink. “Hygiene is maintained seamlessly without them ever feeling policed or denied autonomy.”

9. Break the cycle of repeated questions. Caregivers who take care of family members with memory issues are often caught in an endless loop of anxiety-driven questions: “When are we leaving? What time is it? What are we doing next? “Answering directly five times in a short period drains a caregiver’s sanity and still leaves the loved one in a state of high agitation,” says Fink. Instead of answering the factual question, reflect back the emotional tone with curiosity rather than information, recommends Fink. If they ask for the 10th time, “When are we leaving?" respond with: “You’re really thinking about getting on the road today, aren't you? What’s on your mind about that?” Says Fink, “Answering with factual information doesn’t stop the loop of questions, but asking them to reflect on their feelings interrupts the cognitive pattern and often shifts the topic.”

10. Trigger memories through photos. Before getting together with family or friends, it can often help to take a look at pictures of who you’re getting together with. Sue Ryan, who cared for her husband Jack, who lived with Alzheimer’s, put the images on a photo board. “We looked at the board together and talked about things specific to the people right before spending time with them,” says Ryan, cohost of The Caregiver's Journey podcast.

Organizing hack

11. Keep essential information at your fingertips. Many caregivers struggle to stay organized between their own family responsibilities and that of their loved ones. Instead of scrambling for information, create a summary of their medications, allergies, diagnoses, doctors, specialists, pharmacy, emergency contacts, insurance information, among other vital facts, says Lance A. Slatton, host of the podcast All Home Care Matters. Keep a printed copy and a copy in your phone on a notes app. “When you are tired, stressed or sitting in an emergency room, you do not want to be trying to reconstruct all of that from memory,” says Slatton, author of Caregiving in America, a comprehensive guide on medical, financial, legal and emotional issues of caregiving.

Clothing emergency hack

12. Pack extra clothes. If you are worried about or dealing with accidents, like spilled food and drinks or incontinence, always have a backup bag of clothing, wipes and cleaning products in your car. This way you don’t have to worry about forgetting them when you are in a rush, says La Bey, founder of Dementia Map. “It’s not only a time-saver, but helps maintain the dignity of your loved one in these situations.”

Eating hacks

13. Get low bowls. Someone living with dementia may struggle to keep their food from falling off their plate while they eat. “Low bowls are a great hack. They look more like plates than bowls, however they have a low, one-to-two-inch rim around them,” says Ryan. “They also make it easier to get food onto utensils while also keeping the food from falling off the plate.”

14. Invest in sporks. Someone living with dementia may get confused about how to use their eating utensils, often trying to use the spoon for food that needs a fork and the other way around, Ryan says. She recommends investing in metal sporks that are available in retails stores and on Amazon. “Sporks combine the function of a spoon and a fork, so one utensil can be used for most everything. It is shaped like a spoon and has short tines of a fork,” says Ryan.

Travel hack

15. Unpack once and slow the pace. Copeland-Parker adjusted travel plans to make trips more manageable, especially as his wife, Catherine, progressed with Alzheimer’s disease. Rather than moving to a new destination every few days, he recommends staying longer in the same accommodations with rest days between activities. “Plan outings for the time of day when your loved one is most alert, and leave room to change plans if they become tired or overwhelmed,” says Copeland-Parker. “A shorter outing, a shared meal or a quiet walk can make for a satisfying day together without the pressure to see every attraction.”

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Paul Wynn, a veteran health care writer, has spent over a decade immersed in the caregiving community, both as a family caregiver and as a journalist covering caregiving issues for national publications.

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