Planning for the Unexpected with Melanie from Plan for Awesome
Emergency preparedness is awesome, but so is being ready for whatever curveball a mostly-typical-Tuesday may bring. In today's episode I'm joined by Melanie from Plan For Awesome, and being prepared for the unexpected is her specialty! Listen in.
Episode Links
Grab Melanie's Emergency Preparedness Checklist
Click here for full episode transcript.
MELANIE’S DAILY ROUTINE
Melanie’s day begins at 5:00 AM with listening to a podcast or book on tape while she begins to get herself ready. In the middle of that, she wakes up her oldest kids and gets them out the door. After that, she wakes up her middle schoolers, gets them ready, and they all head to the middle school together.
Melanie has recently started working at the middle and high school so this has been a big adjustment from working from home. Instead of being able to do small tasks throughout the day, they must all be done in the evening when she gets home.
MANAGING A NEW ROUTINE
Melanie has always kept a family calendar. Since beginning her job outside the home, she has had to be more intentional with her time. She now uses Sunday afternoon, when everyone is home, to get everyone on the same page and make sure everyone knows the schedule for what they need to do in the upcoming week.
One tip she shares is that she is setting a lot more alarms on her phone to remind herself of things she wants to be sure not to forget. With school aged kids things change daily depending on what after school activities everyone has.
MELANIE’S STRENGTHS
Melanie has developed a strong habit of making sure the dishwasher is running every night before she goes to bed. It’s something that is important to her and she enjoys waking up to a clean kitchen.
She also is strong at looking ahead and being prepared, and not just for emergencies. It’s important to plan ahead for daily life and making the days go smoothly.
PREPARING FOR DAILY LIFE
Preplanning is so important for times when things come up, such as not being able to get to the grocery store like you planned, or a child gets sick, or a last minute meeting pops up. Having a back stock of food and supplies makes these times less stressful.
MELANIE’S TIPS
When Melanie comes home from the store, she will leave out the snacks and produce instead of putting them in the pantry. This serves as a reminder that they need to be prepped for the coming week.
She will pre-bag snacks for school lunches. She washes produce for the week and stores it in Tupperware with a paper towel to keep it fresh and ready to go when needed. All meat, such as chicken, she will pre-cut and put it in the freezer.
START SMALL
If someone wanted to begin prepping food for the week, Melanie recommends starting with your biggest pain point. Maybe just start with your fruits if prepping all of your produce sounds overwhelming.
Maybe your biggest pain point is getting lunches packed. Start with pre-bagging snacks for the week every Sunday night.
LESS FREQUENT TASKS FOR BEING PREPARED
Melanie has a checklist for herself that consists of things she does every six months. These are things like checking smoke alarms, maintaining fire extinguishers, cleaning the water filter, and rotating items in her 72-hour kits.
She sets aside what she calls a “preparedness weekend” and involves the whole family in doing these tasks. They also take time to chat about different topics such as fires, earthquakes, and evacuation.
If you don’t have everything listed on Melanie’s checklist, just do what you have, such as checking the smoke alarms. Make it a goal that by the next six month mark, you will have added another item from the list, such as basic 72-hour kits or a fire extinguisher.
STRENGTHS BRING WEAKNESSES
It’s important to realize that whatever strengths we have, they will inherently bring a weakness with it. For Melanie, being really good at keeping a back stock means that she will sometimes have a cluttered house. This doesn’t mean we don’t work on the weaknesses, but being at peace with having them and recognizing it comes from a strength.
LESS STRESS AND MORE PEACE
For Melanie, the thing that is bringing her less stress and more peace right now is making sure to take time away from work and household chores to do simple things with the family such as playing games.
She has learned that whatever she would have done in that hour or two she spent playing games with her kids, it will still be there. She doesn’t have to be productive all of the time. Her kids are getting older and one day won’t be as interested in doing things like that anymore.
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