Do You Need A Safety Net In Your Life?
All of our lives are so much more complex than what they were just a few years ago! Does work, family obligations and your volunteer activities fight for your attentions? Do you worry that your computer is going to crash and you wonder when the last time that you backed up your computer was? Are all of your kids stuff that you want to hang onto all over the house? These are examples of some of the items that we worry about all of the time but don’t stop to develop a “safety net” to make sure that all of our bases are covered! Here are a few ideas to help you develop that safety net to prevent some of these crazy things happening in your life that cause more stress and complications! If you can just work slightly ahead of yourself and invest a little time up front, it will save you tons of time on the back-end…
1. Always keep what you use the most often at arm’s length. A prime example of this is your workspace! Is everything at your fingertips?
2. Create a routine in your life! Schedule certain activities for particular times of the week. For example paying bills on Tuesday night, running backups on Friday, etc. As a reminder, schedule them on your calendar.
3. Arrange your shopping, appointments and stops in a logical manner. This saves you time, stress and money.
4. Identify the most difficult task you have for the day and tackle that one first. You will gain a great sense of relief.
5. Always keep supplies on hand so that you don’t have to worry about having what you need.
6. Attach thing that are difficult to remember with strongly established habits. For example, if you have to take a medication first thing in the morning, store the medication with your toothpaste and toothbrush so you will not forget!
7. Learn to record the amount of a check in your check register first…then write your check. You will always have your balance on hand and there will be no overdraft charges!
8. Develop the habit of checking your calendar first thing every day. Inevitably there will be surprise that you forgot about!
9. For effective family communication, schedule short status meeting once or twice a week. Hold the family meeting even if everyone isn’t available. This helps keep meeting from being postponed until the rare moment when everyone is home.
10. Identify one place in your home for your kids and spouse to place important papers so that looking for an item does not require a search throughout the entire house. This can mean that every family member has a basket for their items?
11. Keep reading material in place where you are likely to read them.
12. If backing up your computer is a chore, utilize a systems that does it automatically. I like carbonite! I never have to worry about my family photos or business files again!
13. Have one master calendar for the activities of your family. Post it where everyone can reach it and read it. Assign each family member a different color and have them write in their commitments. This helps make logistics and organization easier.
If you have any “safety net” items that you would like to share, I would love to hear them! Remember, the key is to organize things that work in your life and for your family! All of us are different and the demand on our time are different. Unfortunately, all of our lives to way to busy and we need to find systems that help us in times of this craziness!
Bridges