The Caregiver’s Voice reviews four books from the In 30 Minutes series for caregivers who want to take the first or next step into Genealogy, Crowdfunding, LinkedIn, or Google Drive and Docs.
Genealogy Basics
Are you a family caregiver who wants to trace your ancestry? Genealogy Basics In 30 Minutes by Shannon Combs-Bennett will get you started with your family tree. When the urge strikes to take a road trip to learn more, her tips will save you time and money. Even people with dementia find joy in helping their grandchildren learn more about their family’s history. Once you’ve begun, you’ll want to keep going. Soon, you’ll wonder how to organize all your records. Combs-Bennett gives you tips and tools to focus and keep you organized.
Each of the four In 30 Minutes books reviewed here, features plenty of diagrams, screenshots (where appropriate), and pictures. Shaded-boxed Pitfalls and/or ProTips punctuate the pages in two of the books.
Google Drive & Docs
When you need to coordinate a care plan with input from others, the old-fashioned way may prove cumbersome. Sending a Word doc or Excel spreadsheet to someone and waiting for feedback depends on the old linear method. Google Drive & Docs In 30 Minutes gives you the How-Tos for working interactively and more efficiently in the cloud. While mobile caregiving apps enable families to coordinate care, Google offers a robust platform for people to work together and view changes in real time and perform tasks that go beyond caregiving. While this guide will take longer than 30 minutes, it is worth your investment of time to learn how to work more efficiently.
Ian Lamont, Google Drive author and technology journalist, publishes these guides to help readers more easily understand and apply these How-Tos, instead of feeling like dummies poring through manuals or knowledge-base articles.
LinkedIn In 30 Minutes by Angela Rose prepares caregivers looking for work using LinkedIn’s platform. Her instructions are both for the newly initiated and for those with a presence on LinkedIn in need of refinement. I’ve been using LinkedIn semi-seriously for several years. Rose’s instructions compelled me to spend three hours one evening. Once engaged, I couldn’t stop.
What’s great about these In 30 Minutes books is their simplicity in helping us get started. Starting a task is 70-90 percent of our effort in getting something done. And once we’ve started, we want to return and accomplish more. My LinkedIn profile definitely improved after following Rose’s tips. I plan to continue refining my virtual resume on LinkedIn.
Crowdfunding
Finally, are you a caregiver with a great idea to help others? Do you need funds to help develop and share your idea with the world? Instead of borrowing money from your local bank, try crowdsourcing.
Los Angeles-based filmmaker and musician, Michael J. Epstein, makes crowdfunding accessible for the uninitiated. Have you heard of Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Patreon, or GoFundMe? There are more. Which site is best for your cause?
Through Crowdfunding Basics In 30 Minutes, Epstein gives first-timers an advantage of experience. He advises on how much to ask for based on the amount you believe you can raise, who to ask first, and on estimated time and expense. Everything takes longer and costs more. Remember to set aside funds for taxes!
A man who walks his talk, Epstein helps readers competently weigh the pros and cons of each crowdfunding platform from Kickstarter and Indiegogo to GoFundMe and Global Giving. He offers valuable tips to help first-timers be in the same league as more experienced crowd funders.
Each of these In 30 Minutes books ranges from 70 to 100 pages and includes an index. Some will take longer than 30 minutes to read. If you’re like me and apply what you learn as you read, more time will pass quickly. Still, the main benefit is these In 30 Minutes guides help us to get started.
I am glad to find you. I have been working in support of caregivers for years. I have helped with a father, mother, mother-in-law, and have a son with cerebral palsy 47. My life has been about caregiving. I have taught a class for a school district and families with children with special needs. My degree from Sam Houston State University was in Communications I produced a video about why communication breaks down in families with special needs. I am a global radio host on Monday nights on bbmglobalnetwork.com/courage-2-overcome at 9 pm EST. I would love to get in touch with you and interview you. I have a book: It Takes Courage to be a Caregiver, and been in several more. Let me know how to reach out and talk to you.
Cheryl, are you trying to reach me or the publisher of the In 30 Minutes Guides?
You’ll find my contact info here and the publisher’s info at the link in the review.