Hello world, I’m back…sort of…
I cannot remember when I last updated my blog, but last year was something of a write-off.
My mother – over on the other side of the planet – became very ill very suddenly, and three weeks after her cancer diagnosis was made, she drew her last breath. I managed to make a dash to the other side of the planet and be there a few hours before her last breath. My father – an only child – had been with her for nearly 60 years, and at the age of 87 did not even know where to start in terms of what she wanted at her funeral, and how to run his own life. I therefore stayed with him for nearly three months to help him get himself organised.
One of the simple things that I did, that at first seemed ludicrous, but actually was brilliant, was to make a spreadsheet of everything that was in the deep freezer in the garage. We had fields for quantity, item, expiry date, how many people it would feed, and a check box as to whether he would want to replace it. The list went on the noticeboard by the kitchen door and is helping him plan his meals. He has used it ever since.
Although I laughed at my OCD tendencies when I put a post on facebook, so many people commented ‘what a brilliant idea – think I will do the same for my pantry/larder/linen cupboard/garage etc’ that either there are a lot of OCD people, or I have hit on something!
Here’s an idea – how many people have a stationery cupboard stuffed full of items that you keep buying more of because you didn’t know that they were hiding behind the two spare hole-punchers that you bought because you didn’t realise you already had four of them?
Anyway, back to my original thought process…when I did come back to this side of the world, everything I did seemed so trivial and irrelevant in comparison with the importance of looking after your family. I too am an only child with no surviving grand-parents, thus making me the matriarch of my small family.
When it comes down to it, the most important thing in the world is your family, and your place in it.
Needless to say, there was a lot of administration to do when I returned home. My first step was go go through my inbox (although I had maintained excellent email correspondence throughout my time away) and categorise the emails. I am fortunate in that I use Entourage, so every entry in my address book is categorised, and each category has its own colour, so when an email comes in I immediately know to which business it belongs (I look after a few) and whether it is personal, or administration, or subscriber-related and so on, which allowed me to prioritise the correspondence.
If your email program allows you to add colours to your folders, then do so – it looks more interesting and much less daunting!
It will definitely help you to Get Sorted.
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