In Case You Get Hit By A Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You’re Not Around Later.
Book Inspiration for Organization
Today I want to lean in and discuss an organization inspiration book I have been reading. It’s titled In Case You Get Hit by a Bus: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You’re Not Around Later. Abby Schneiderman and Adam Seifer take life organization to a whole other level. I love how they think of every little thing and I highly recommend you read the book for yourself. I should mention that I am not affiliated with the sale of this book, but I think it is fantastic! If you would like to purchase your own copy (I have the Kindle version) you can buy it here. This book has served as inspiration for my organization series: the 7 Day Digital Declutter Challenge.
Be Prepared for the Unexpected
As a military spouse, being prepared is essential. There have been many times over the last 15 years where I have had to leave my husband and kids to return back home to help with my own parents. Sadly, one of these times was this last April when I got a call that no one wants to receive. My mother was in the hospital, and she was going to be passing or transitioning within the day. I booked a flight, flew home, and made it home to say goodbye within 5 hours of that first call. It was the hardest time of my life, but because everything was relatively in order at home I didn’t have to worry. I could be where I needed to be at the time that I was supposed to be there.
Why Do I Want To Be Prepared?
My parents handed me a peculiar gift a few years into being married. They gave me copies of their wills, copies of their advanced medical directives, and named me the Power of Attorney over their estate. While this may seem like an unusual gift, my parents’ preparation has left me feeling competent and empowered that if and when the time comes, I can handle their affairs. I know the name and number of the person who handles their finances and the person who handles their taxes. I know how to access my Dad’s computer and where he keeps all of his bills. These are the little pieces of information that can make a very difficult time much easier.
Because I am an only child, the decision to name me as the executor of the will was easy for my parents. I have no siblings to argue with me about certain details. I alone will ultimately make decisions about all of the details of their estate. However, this is also a lot of pressure: I will one day be handling these things all by myself. At the time, I thought it was strange and morbid that they were giving me these things. Why are they thinking about dying? Why are they bringing me down? I don’t want to think of something so sad. I now understand that they weren’t trying to make me sad or bring me down. They were preparing me and taking so much stress and worry off of my shoulders.
Preparation is a Gift For Your Family
Now, I want to pass that gift on. If something happened to me today, I would want my family to know exactly what to do. I wouldn’t want to add extra stress to their lives. I would want my files, my passwords, my home to be in order. Then, the people I love most in the world can continue to live their lives without a big pile of stress.
No one wants to think about death. No one wants to think something horrible will happen to them or to their loved ones. We don’t have family nearby. If something happened to both my husband and I simultaneously, someone would have to come to both continue running and shut down our lives. Again, not happy or pretty thoughts, but better to know than to be in the middle of the saddest event in your life and have to make a million decisions.
Digital Organization Planning
So… phew… deep breath. Time to put things in hyper order to help myself, but also my family. I hope you will join me. The authors of my inspiration book created their own paid for plan: Everplans. This is an extensive program, and looks like it would be ideal for lots of families. Therefore, I am not going to be creating quite as extensive, but I will be following their suggestions and timelines from the book. I am creating my own forms that will work well for our family. I’ll make them customizable so that you are able to create something functional and practical for your own family. Please follow along with my 7 Day DIGITAL ORGANIZATION blog series over the next few weeks to create order in your own digital organization!
