Your sibling offers to spend Thursday afternoon with Mum. Can they pop out to the shops? Start with the answer to that question, then tell them which jobs are still open.
Four hours at the house
In this fictional example, Ari agreed to stay with Mum from 1 to 5 until a cousin arrived. Ari recalls these rough amounts:
- 30 minutes making lunch and clearing up; 45 sorting letters and emailing a signed form; 30 on the phone about Thursday’s lift.
- About 90 minutes reading or listening to the radio. Ari can’t account for the other 45 minutes in detail.
Could Ari have left during the quiet part?
The care jobs took about an hour and 45 minutes. Ari still needed someone else to take over before going to the shops. The reading time was part of the four-hour visit.
What to tell the next person
Ari’s note: “I stayed with Mum from 1 to 5, until our cousin arrived. We emailed the signed form. I left a voicemail about Thursday’s lift but we don’t have a driver yet. Could you ring the transport office tomorrow morning and text me when someone confirms? If you need to go out on Thursday afternoon, arrange cover first.”
For a handover like this, you can leave out the minutes. The sibling needs to know when someone has to be there and which call to make.
A handover you can send
Put the open job where the next person can find it.
I covered ___ until ___. I needed to stay because ___. We finished ___. Still waiting on ___. Can you ___ by ___?
From “What to put in a family care handover” · hoursgiven.com/guides/care-time-record