Worst case situation books

I’m still thrilling about the awesomeness of the community library.  Let me tell you, I never really enjoyed the nonfiction section of my library when I was younger, but now I’m piling in all these books and doing some serious learning and researching.

I picked up a book last week called Get it Together. It’s about getting everything in order in case of your incapacitation or death.  I didn’t know that’s what it was about when I picked it up–I though it was about file cabinets.  But it’s been a really interesting read.  It came with a CD with worksheets.  What you do is work through the worksheets and build a binder that has everything anyone could possibly need in case you end up in a coma or pass on.  So things you’d think about, like assets and children, all the information about how to handle those are written down.  If a plot has already been purchased or any of those arrangements already made, it’s all in the book.  And other things, like employer’s phone numbers and benefit’s information or what bills are going to be due on the house, are all in there.  The people picking up the pieces have a perfect manual to follow and can focus on their own grieving instead of trying to figure out what Fluffy is supposed to have for dinner and whether it has medication to take.

It’s not an easy book to work through, that’s for sure.  There are things that are just uncomfortable to think about, like a letter in the front of the book for the people reading it.  And there are things that will require the use of an attorney.  But it’s really good stuff and I think it’s useful.

And I could use this in my business!  There are a lot of elderly people in the area who maybe haven’t really found the time to work through all of this information.  If I can figure out how to get this all lined up and all, I could help people get this started.  They’ll have to end up talking with their lawyer, but I could help them find all the paperwork that they’ll need to get that started.

Another thing I’ve been working on is a hurricane evacuation plan.  It is hurricane season and if the word goes out to head inland, then there isn’t a lot of time to get everything together and get out of town.  So having a plan is really important.  I’ve been pulling together information from Fly Lady‘s Control Journal idea and a special edition of the Savannah Morning News.  What I’m trying to do is create something that I can fit right into the front pages of my address book.  It’s got all the important information like doctor info, insurance info, directions to Luke’s, lists of things we need to grab, everything.  Most of the information is duplicated info because I carry most of that with me in my purse, but it’s the sort of situation where having it really easy to find is key.

I have a checklist that I have to work through and see if I can get any of that prepared ahead of time and tucked away so it’s a grab and go situation.  So we grab the address book, grab the folder of important papers, grab the box of prepared stuff, and then focus on the rest of the list that couldn’t get done ahead of time.

And this is another thing that I could help people do.  I could help them find the information that they’ll need to have on hand, pack up their grab and go box, get them the checklist of other things to take care of if they have to leave, basically do as much as I can so if they have to leave, they have a plan and they’re ready to go.

And,  really, the two things fit together–the folder of important information if you die and the preparedness for evacuation.  All the important papers that you’d want to take with you if you leave the house in a hurry is exactly the same paperwork that you’d pull together for the book for your death.  It could all be one book, one “if the worst thing happens, this is where you look” book.  I haven’t started putting either one together, so I’m not sure it would really work all together, but it’s an interesting thought.

And I think people might be interested in getting some help to get these things together.

Of course, the first step to actually get as much of my own information put together.  So that’s what I’ve been up to the last couple days.  And that’s what I’m going back to work on now.

If anyone has any recommendations on these types of books and information, I would love to hear about it!  And if you’d like to get started on these and would like some information from me about, drop me a line and we’ll get started!

Cheers!