Time and task management

Sort the week once

1. 1Write every recurring task: medication, personal care, meals, transport, appointments, calls, forms, housework, work, children.
2. 2Mark each: must be me / could be shared / could be paid or provided.
3. 3Batch similar tasks — all calls in one block, all admin in one block.
4. 4Put fixed anchors in first: your sleep, your break, your work hours.
5. 5Leave 20% empty. Caring weeks always overrun.

The help list

When people say 'let me know if you need anything', they mean it but cannot generate ideas. Keep a standing list on the fridge or in your phone: Tuesday pharmacy run, Thursday school pickup, a cooked meal that freezes, an hour of sitting with them so I can shower and sleep.

Send the list, not a plea. Specific requests get said yes to far more often.

Paperwork survival

• One folder or one photo album on your phone for everything: letters, results, receipts, benefits.
• Take a photo of every medication box and every discharge sheet.
• Keep one page at the front: diagnoses, medicines and doses, allergies, key phone numbers. It saves hours in every emergency.