Genuine Curiosity

Author Dwayne Melancon is always on the lookout for new things to learn. An ecclectic collection of postings on personal productivity, travel, good books, gadgets, leadership & management, and many other things.

 

Emergency medical information

I’ve read a number of blogs recently where the authors have discussed the importance of keeping emergency contact numbers available and organized “just in case” (for example, Bert’s post “In Case of Emergency,” which he was inspired to write after reading about this topic on Lifehacker.com).

As you may know from my blog posts, I’ve been involved in (or affected by) quite a few medical emergencies in the last few weeks.  Through these experiences, I want to add some additional information about emergency preparedness.

When medical emergencies occur, even the most level-headed among us can become addled and anxious. When this happens, we tend to forget things, like the phone numbers of people we know, important medical details, and other pieces of information that can be useful in a crisis.

Here are some ideas that may come in handy.

A Medical Information Packet

This can be a plastic folder that is the “hub” for copies of medical information.  Decide on a “permanent home” for it, and make sure everyone in the family knows where to look for it.  This folder should include things like:

  • Medical insurance coverage cards
  • Summary of any medical conditions
    • Include recent incidents that may be of interest or relevant to treatment
    • Include food, drug, and other allergies or sensitivities
  • List medications (substance, dosage, and frequency) being taken by people in the house
    • particularly valuable for older people in your family, or others who may be taking quite a few medications
    • you may want to have copies of the pharmacy labels
  • Emergency contact information including:
    • friends and family you may want to notify (home, office, and mobile numbers)
    • Doctor’s names, contact number, and role (e.g. “Pain management” or “Cardiologist”)
    • Attorneys
    • Clergy member contacts
  • Copies of any special instructions (Do Not Resuscitate / DNR instructions, for example)

Keepin’ the joint running

If the primary “house manager” is incapacitated or unable to communicate for any length of time, someone else will need to step in.  With this in mind, it’s a good idea to have a few people “trained” on how to keep the house running.  This can include sharing information on:

  • Where medical and life insurance policies and related information are kept
  • How bills are paid (including information like where checkbooks, ledgers, etc. are kept) so someone can step in and pay bills
    • Include information on where account logins can be found for electronic banking and other online resources used to manage the household
  • Know where extra keys are, and who (neighbors, for example) may have copies in case you need someone to take care of things at the house or retrieve something to bring it to the hospital
  • Where financial records and similar information are stored
  • Location of any safe deposit boxes, contents of them, and location of keys

These lists are by no means all-inclusive, but I hope they get you thinking of some things that might help you prepare particularly if you have family members with health issues, or who may be getting on in years. 

Like many uncomfortable topics, human nature is to put them off until later.  Unfortunately, if that’s your strategy, they may come back to bite you.

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GTD and another meaning for "zero peer pressure"

In a couple of weeks, I'll be at David Allen's seminar "GTD | The RoadMap" in San Jose. I'm really looking forward to it, but I feel a bit like people I know who have maid service, but they always clean up before the maid comes over - so nobody will know how messy they really are.

I have started to brush up on the old "Getting Things Done" techniques (some of which have fallen by the wayside for me). What does brushing up mean? I'm doing things like:

  • Purging my reference files to reduce clutter (makes them fresher, and gets the drawer less squinchy so it's easier to get things in and out)

  • Purging all my context lists and getting brutal with the question: "Is this item really 'someday / maybe', or is it actually 'never, get out of denial,' buster?"

  • Reviewing my lists to make sure my 'next actions' are not 'next inactions' pretending to be actionable

  • Blocking time this weekend to do a real weekly review (I totally blew this in July due to all the chaos in my life, and I am feeling the effects in my stuckness)

  • Doing a mind sweep, complete with the triggers in the Getting Things Done book

  • Listening to "Getting Things Done Fast" again [note: this program is no longer available from Davidco.com, but David tells me there are other helpful tools coming soon, and I should stay tuned]

  • Getting "In" to empty, and my email Inbox to zero

That last one is the one that's been taunting me the most lately, since it's just plain in my face all day every day. Since I've been without internet access quite a bit in the last month, the old Inbox stacked up pretty high. I know what I should be doing - I'm just not doing it.

So, this week, I set my self up for discipline by public shaming - a co-worker of mine is also a GTD practicioner, and we've agreed to ridicule each other if our Inboxes are not empty each night (beginning Monday - gotta get a running start for this one). With this new approach, "zero peer pressure" is taking on a new meaning for me.

If you want less vindictive assistance in getting right with GTD, you might want to check out a special typr of virtual book study Rosa is running on Talking Story, as well - great stuff. She calls it "MWA3P" and it merges powerful concepts from her own book "Managing with Aloha," as well as concepts from David Allen and Stephen Covey.

Note: The terms and concept in "Getting Things Done" (aka "GTD") are the killer mojo of David Allen, and he's got rules to keep people from messin' with his flavor - check them out here.

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Updated: What my diet can teach me about personal productivity

In a previous post, I shared my success with The Zone Diet.  I am now one year into it, and as I reflect, I realize that I can learn a lot about personal productivity.  When you boil it down to its essence, The Zone Diet is all about managing your hunger through portion control, planning, and maintaining a balanced diet.  Furthermore, it tells you what to do if you eat a really unhealthy meal, and makes it easy to get back on track if you have a weekend of decadent food.

How does that relate to personal productivity? Let’s take them one at a time:

Portion Control: Don’t overeat, and don’t over-commit.

You start with The Zone Diet by calculating what you should be eating based on your height and body size, and you start eating that way from day one.  This is followed by monitoring and controlling what you eat at every meal. 

With personal productivity, you can start with an accurate assessment of what you can handle, by figuring out what your hard commits are versus your discretionary time and activities.  This is followed by monitoring and controlling what you do (and don’t do) each day.

Planning: Success favors the prepared

With The Zone, I can resist the temptation of junk food because I always carry healthy snacks.  I also spend more time planning what I buy at the grocery store, and choose restaurants that will provide me with options compatible with my diet. 

With Personal Productivity, I follow David Allen’s advice and spend time doing (mostly) weekly reviews, I resist the urge to waste time by bringing my Read & Review folder and other optional work with me in case I get stuck in some kind of delay, I listen to audio books in the car, and use other techniques to make the most of my ad hoc time.  I’ve also become more mercenary about accepting meeting requests – so I can choose meetings that are more compatible with my time management goals.

Maintaining a Balanced Diet:  Stability comes from balance

With The Zone, you strive for 40/30/30: 40% of your calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 30% from fat.  This keeps your metabolism and blood sugar in balance, making it easier for you to eat a healthy diet and not send signals to your body that might encourage it store fat or cause fluctuations in your energy levels. 

With Personal Productivity, we all need to maintain balance of health, work, and family to increase our success and happiness.  This is similar to the Covey philosophy of “First Things First” and its “Sharpen the Saw” mantra.

Knowing what to do when you fall off the wagon:

With The Zone, you forget about it and try to get back on track at the very next meal.  Persistence and the law of averages will pay off. If you stick to it most of the time, and don’t let yourself get out of control when you stray from the diet, you’ll do OK. 

With Personal Productivity, I find it helps to get back to the basics.  As a follower of David Allen’s Getting Things Done methodology, when things get crazy a good mindsweep and a comprehensive weekly review do wonders for me.

Whether I’m dealing with diet or productivity, the more disciplined I am, the more dramatic your results.  The same will be true for you.  It’s important to find a system or philosophy that fits your lifestyle and philosophy.

This reflection has also helped me spotlight an area where I need improvement in my Personal Productivity world: Balance.  I'm way too skewed toward Work with the way I balance things now, and need to adjust my "diet" to include more time devoted to my family and personal fitness.

Update, July 7, 2005:

I have spent some time this week with folks who haven't seen me in a while, and we've been talking diet.  This has made me realize another common trait of diet and personal productivity:  Knowing what to do is quite different from doing it.  And, you don't get the results without being willing to change what you're doing. 

Simple as that.

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Be among the first to know...

I've been waiting for many months for the "official" David Allen Notetaker wallet (aka the Getting Things Done Evening Module).  They've been out of stock for many moons, and I just  noticed that David posted a note a few days ago to let people know they are back in stock.

That's old news to me - I got mine a couple of weeks ago.  How'd I do that - an insider tip from David?  No - I'm not that special.  Here's how I did it:

Rather than visiting the page all the time looking for when they restocked, I used a handy (free) service called "Watch That Page."

In this case, I set up a watch for the David Allen Company's product page.  Then, each time the page changes, I get an email showing me the differences on that page.  A couple of weeks ago, I got an email saying the price on the NoteTaker wallet had changed from "Out of stock" to $99.00 and I had placed my order about 10 minutes later.

This is handy to watch just about any publicly accessible page, and it provides a "smart" summary by sending an email showing only the parts of the page that have changed.

Give it a try - and if you like it, please donate some money to the site owner to help keep it running.

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Tinkering in the garage of my mind

You've probably seen those tinkering types who accumulate a garage full of miscellaneous spare parts (motors, belts, pulleys, etc.).  Then, one day they'll get an idea, go out to the garage, and make something out of all those spare parts.

I'm a bit like that, but not with parts.  I accumulate ideas, thoughts, concepts, and goofy ideas.  Then, they sometimes come together in the form of new ideas, lessons, and observations.  Here's an example.

Ingredients:

  • Blog posts from David Allen, Steve Pavlina
  • Lisa Haneberg's 2w2aB program

As I was catching up on my blog reading this weekend, I noticed a few posts from David Allen on conversations he's had with his seat mates on airplanes (like this one about being spread too thin at the top).  He's had a number of posts like that since launching his revamped blog, and I've been thinking about how few such chats I have on the plane, even though I fly a lot.

In just about every case I can recall, when I had a conversation like that with a stranger on a plane, it was initiated by the other person. I've mentioned in previous posts that I'm an Introvert and that makes me more likely to sit and think (or read, or listen to audiobooks, or work on my computer) than to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger sitting next to me.

However, as I read about David's conversations, I can't help but think I might be missing out on some good discussion (and even more new ideas) by being so solitary in these situations.

This is further amplified by the positive experience I had when going through Lisa Haneberg's "2 Weeks 2 A Breakthrough" process in which I was encouraged to talk about my goals with everyone I encountered, and even enlist their help. That was way out of my comfort zone, but yielded powerful (indeed, "breakthrough") results.

I've decided I want to force myself to engage in these sorts of conversations more often, to see what happens. What better way than to use Steve Pavlina's idea about personal quotas?

I've decided to give myself a quota of having a productive conversation with at least one person for every two flights I take.  I define productive to mean that I find out a little about what the other person does and one significant goal or project they are working on (personally or professionally).

I wonder what I'll find out? I know one thing - I'll probably expand my comfort zone.

What about you - are you a conversation starter, or a mind-your-own business sort of traveler?

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