According to Fay, care was “easier than normal” during the study, but the data shows the difficulty in balancing academic studies (she strives to stay connected with her academic colleagues) with her mother’s needs.
The day she logged her activities she had several meetings. Josephine’s symptoms were milder than usual. Still, she spent six hours caregiving. She attended intermittently to reading and research between caregiving tasks, creating disruptive switching patterns. Fragmentation of her work time is a new normal.
Logging made Fay feel guilty about the time she was spending on her studies or speaking with colleagues. The log provided a written account for Fay to see how much she devotes to the caregiving of her mother.