Archive for ‘Medical’ Category
Paper Doll’s 10-Minute Tasks to Make Difficult Moments Easier
Lately, I’ve been considering that it’s a bit ironic that February, the shortest month of the year, is National Time Management Month. We collectively assign the month with the fewest days to figure out how to achieve goals that would solve so many frustrations.
Wouldn’t a 31-day month be better for that?
A Necessary Caveat About “Time Management”
Time management, obviously, is a misnomer. We don’t really manage time, which is fixed. Every person gets the same 60 seconds every minute, the same 60 minutes every hour, the same 24 hours every day, and of course, 525,600 minutes in a year.
(With apologies to all of you who’d rather watch the Broadway version, linked above, than Glee‘s, but YouTube is really cracking down on music videos being played anywhere but their own platform.)
Rather, we must try to manage our attention, our energy, and our labor. Though we have the same amount of time, none of us has the exact same quality of our time, nor the same obligations.
The single, healthy, unencumbered twenty-something with a salaried office job has more (financial, as well as temporal) resources than the mom of two working multiple retail jobs, or the person going to school while taking care of an elderly parent, or the individual struggling to make it through these crazy times with a chronic illness, visible or invisible.
Often, when the media has articles on time-saving tasks, they fail to acknowledge the complexities of life. If you are beyond the juggling and are full-on struggling, we professional organizers and productivity consultants see you. And we know that when the you-know-what hits the fan, you’ve got limited energy and time to deal.
So, today’s post has ten-minute tasks (or projects that can be handled as a series of ten-minute tasks) that will make things easier for you and your family when things get “ouchie.”
Check and Update Your Beneficiaries
You don’t even have to do these all at once, though if your paperwork is already organized, it should only take you a couple minutes for each. Though the time investment is small, the ease of mind it will bring (both now, and in the future) is tremendous.
And yes, you can even consider these two separate tasks (the checking and the updating) so you can make two different checkmarks on your task list.
Pull out the file folders or head to your online accounts and check to see who you previously listed as your primary and secondary beneficiaries for any of the following you may have:
- life insurance policies
- annuities
- pension accounts
- Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)
- 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and other retirement accounts
- profit-sharing plans
- brokerage/investment accounts
Obviously, a beneficiary is someone who gets a benefit. When we’re looking at financial documents, beneficiaries are the people (or sometimes entities) that the account holder designates as the recipient of any assets in that account when the account holder eventually shuffles off this mortal coil. (I know, nobody likes to use the world “death” or think about it, but that’s why we have life insurance policies, wills, and similar accounts and documents — to make things easier when someone has passed away.)
“The Reading of the Will” — central to any good murder mystery
In most cases, setting a beneficiary (and usually both a primary and secondary beneficiary) is part of the required paperwork. Some states (usually “community property states”) require you to list your spouse (if you have one) as your primary beneficiary for retirement and other accounts.
You may be wondering, if you have a will, why do you need to name beneficiaries? That’s a darned good question.
The main reason is that when a person dies, a will goes through “probate,” a legal process where the court in your jurisdiction supervises all the assets in your estate getting distributed hither and yon. Depending on the situation, it can be murky and complicated, and take a long time, which is pretty miserable if your people need those funds.
However, whenever you have a beneficiary set in your insurance policies and various financial accounts, that money can go straight to your intended recipient as soon as the insurance or financial institution gets proof that you are no longer among us. That usually just amounts to a certified copy of the death certificate and some proper ID.
If you set your beneficiaries for any of these accounts several years ago, you may have picked someone no longer appropriate — parents who are no longer living (or not able to manage their own finances), former spouses or significant others, or even friends who are not part of your active life anymore.
I went through the “check the beneficiaries” process with one client who was shocked to realize that she’d never gone back to revise the beneficiary on a small 401(k) plan she’d never bothered to roll over from a job decades earlier. (Note to readers: don’t do that. Roll over your retirement accounts so you don’t have to hope your former employers have stayed solvent and managed your funds properly.)
Imagine my client’s shock when she realized that her [expletive deleted], [expletive deleted]ing [expletive] of a [expletive deleting] ex-[expletive deleted] husband was still her beneficiary! Be assured it did not take her ten full seconds, let alone minutes, to get cracking on changing that beneficiary!
Imagine my client's shock when she realized that her *expletive deleted*, *expletive deleted*ing *expletive* of a *expletive deleted*ing ex-*expletive deleted* husband was still her beneficiary! Share on XIf you never set your beneficiaries before or your want or need to change them, you’ll need a few pieces of information, like their Social Security numbers, birth dates, and contact information (like phone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses).
EXTRA CREDIT: Here’s a time-saver so you don’t have to go through this entire process in the future:
- Create a spreadsheet (or even a handwritten note) with the first column listing all of your account names.
- Create a column and list all of the beneficiaries as they stand now.
- Create a column entitled “as of” and list today’s date.
- Any time you acquire a new policy, add a line to this list. Any time you revise a beneficiary, revise the spreadsheet.
This way, whenever you’re not sure whether you’ve updated your beneficiary, you’ll only have to look in one place.
EXTRA, EXTRA CREDIT: Checking your beneficiaries is easy and quick. Changing/updating them should be easy, but how quickly you can accomplish it depends on whether your insurance or financial institution will let you do this all online. But making this list is definitely easy and quick.
However, to take it a step further, fancy-up this spreadsheet with another ten-minute (or so) task.
Add columns for your account number, and the name, email address, and phone number of your insurance agents and financial brokers associated with each policy or account. Create a column to explain what kind of policy or account it is. And then make sure that someone you trust, like the person who has your Power of Attorney, has a copy or can access it when/if necessary.
Put Your Emergency Contacts On Ice
“Downtown Hospital Ambulance” by sponki25 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
In the early 2000s, first responders in the UK started suggesting that people list their “In Case of Emergency” contacts as “ICE” on their cell phones to make those contacts easy to locate. The idea quickly took hold in North America.
While first responders, themselves, generally don’t have the time (or authorization) to contact someone for you, nurses and hospital staff often do need to obtain important medical information when you are not able to provide it. That’s where your contacts come in.
As cell phones got fancier, the lock screens made accessing ICE contacts more difficult, but now, even if you are not able to respond, medical personnel may be able to use your thumb print access or facial recognition to get your emergency contact info.
But there’s something else you can quickly do to make sure your emergency contacts can, um, get contacted. Add your emergency contacts to your cell phone’s lock screen.
On an iPhone:
1) Go to the Medical ID screen. You can get there one of three ways:
- Long-press on the Health app icon. That will bring up a screen that looks like this:
- You can also manually open the Health App by tapping on it, then on your profile image, and then selecting Medical ID.
- Or go to Settings, then Health, then Medical ID.
2) Tap Edit.
3) Fill in all the fields that you want, but if there’s nothing significant, it’s better to type “none” than to leave it blank (so that you’re not leaving anything open to interpretation). There are fields for medical conditions, allergies, medications, blood type, weight, height, and emergency contacts. (Bingo!)
At the top, there’s an option to put in your photo. Do that; it ensures that an emergency responder can verify this is your phone.
4) Choose a name and phone number (or two names and numbers) for your Emergency Contact(s). Be sure you select names/numbers that already exist in your contacts list.
5) Scroll down to the section for Emergency Access.
6) Enable “Show When Locked” and “Share During Emergency Call.”
7) Tap “Done” at the top right corner to save your info.
Now, go look at your lock screen. You should see the word “Emergency” in the lower left corner of your iPhone. If your phone is locked and someone taps that, they can see your emergency information but nothing else.
If you don’t see the word “Emergency” there, hold down your power button (or power and volume-down buttons) as if you were going to turn off your phone and you’ll see the Medical ID access. (I guess it all depends on which version of iOS you’re using.)
For more information about the iOS Medical ID, Apple has a detailed page of instructions and explanations.
Assuming you have a photo somewhere on your phone to add in the photo field, this can usually be completed in well under 10 minutes. (The only sticking point is if someone has many medications or allergies they have to list.)
On an Android Phone
Although Android phones do not have one default health-related app, you can easily show your emergency contacts on your lock screen in one of two ways.
Method #1
- Open your Settings app.
- Tap “User & Accounts” and then select “Emergency Information.”
- Tap “Info” and then “Edit information” to enter any medical information you want to store.
- Tap “Add Contact” to add a person from your contacts list. Note, you might have to click on “Contacts” first to be presented with the list
Method #2
Android phones will let owners put any message directly on the lock screen.
- Open your Settings app.
- Tap “Security & Location.”
- Tap “Settings” next to “Screen lock.”
- Tap “Lock screen message.”
- Type your primary emergency contact (and, if applicable, any medical conditions). You could type, “In Emergency, call Lin-Manuel Miranda” and his number. What? Can you think of someone more comforting to have around in an emergency? OK, maybe Stanley Tucci. Or Paper Mommy.
- Tap “Save.”
After you’ve set this up, your ICE information can be found by swiping upward on the lock screen and tapping EMERGENCY and then “Emergency information.”
Do An Inventory of Your Essential Documents
An emergency is the worst time to realize you have no idea where your important documents are. Do you know which of these documents you have and where you can find them?
- Birth Certificate
- Social Security card
- Marriage License and Certificate
- Divorce Degree
- Military Separation Papers
- Death Certificate
- Passport
- Durable Power of Attorney for Finances
- Healthcare Proxy or Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare
- Living Will or Advanced Medical Directive
- Last Will and Testament
- Digital Will
- Driver’s License
- Voter Registration card
- Vaccination Record
- COVID Vaccinate Card
- Professional license(s)
- Other licenses
As with the beneficiaries section above, a great way to save time is to make a list (think of it as a treasure map) of where each of these documents are located. Use Excel or a Google spreadsheet and take note of what the document is and where it’s located (e.g., your family filing system, fireproof safe, safe deposit box, wallet, etc.).
EXTRA CREDIT: For good measure, for your passport, driver’s license, and any other licenses, take note of the expiration date.
And then for really good measure, put a reminder task in your phone to alert you one month before your any of these items expire to make sure you address renewals. (Give yourself a longer lead-time to renew your passport; also, as you’ve probably not been traveling out of the country in the last two years, you should check to make sure your passport hasn’t already expired.)
If you have a lot of documents, just do a few every day and you’ll be amazed at what a few ten-minute tasks can do to put your mind at ease.
EXTRA, EXTRA CREDIT: The Paper Doll archive has extensive information about what documents you should have and what to do if they’re missing. These posts are a great place to start.
How to Replace and Organize 7 Essential Government Documents
How to Create, Organize, and Safeguard 5 Essential Legal and Estate Documents
The Professor and Mary Ann: 8 Other Essential Documents You Need To Create
Protect and Organize Your COVID Vaccination Card
Paper Doll acknowledges that I write longer-than-typical blog posts. Feel free to consider reading each one to be a 10-minute task. But the knowledge you gain will contribute to your ability to use your time more efficiently. Because, the more you know, the better prepared you are for any eventuality.
Snap Some Photos to Take Key Information With You
Unlike the vital documents listed in the prior section, there are some pieces of information you are more likely to lack at the most inconvenient times.
Toy car accident image by Andrea Closier on Pixabay
For example, if you have an auto accident and the police or first responders won’t let you get back into your car for safety reasons, you wouldn’t be able to get your auto registration and car insurance paperwork out of your car. Yes, you’d have it at home, but that would slow everything down.
Or perhaps you need to fill a prescription at a different pharmacy from usual, perhaps when you’re on vacation, and they don’t already have your pharmaceutical company discount card on record.
Or maybe you’re unexpectedly with your spouse or child or senior parent in the emergency room, and the physicians want to know what medications, at what dosages, prescribed by what healthcare providers, the patient is taking. If that information is pinned to the fridge at home, but you came directly to the ER from somewhere else, that’s frustrating.
This is where the magic of modern cell phones (which we usually bemoan for the time they steal from us) comes in handy. Consider any of the following:
- auto registration form
- auto insurance card
- health insurance card
- homeowner’s insurance card
- pharmaceutical company discount cards
- handwritten instructions of how to get to a room or office you visit infrequently
- a list of the size/type of batteries and light bulbs you use for which items in your home so that you never again have to unscrew a light bulb just to know what voltage and whether you want a skinny-base or a fat-base bulb)
- etc., for whatever is important in your life.
You could snap all of these as photographs and store them in a photo album in your phone’s photo section. Name it “Remember” or “Vital” or whatever will catch your eye.
If you want to go to the effort of scanning the document and sending it to your phone, that’s fine, but iOS has created an easy option using the Notes app.
- Open a new or existing note.
- Tap the cute little camera icon.
- Tap “Scan Documents.”
- Focus your document, card, medicine label or whatever within your camera’s viewing area.
- Then you have two options:
- Let the auto-capture work its magic as the item comes into the viewfinder and auto-focuses, or
- Click the shutter button (or one of the volume buttons) to capture the scan
- Drag the corners of the scan to do any necessary adjustments.
- Tap “Keep Scan.”
- Scan more fiddly stuff to keep it handy or tape Save if you’re done.
From here, you can save the scan in your Notes or Files app in your phone itself, or upload it to a synced app, like Dropbox or Evernote:
As an all-Apple user, I don’t have an Android-specific scanning suggestion; if you do, please add your voice in the comments.
The next time a new insurance card or other piece of important information comes your way, take a snapshot or scan to ensure you’ll have whatever you might need when you are out and about.
As I often say, organizing can’t prevent all catastrophes, but it can make many of them less catastrophic. I hope these various ten(ish)-minute tasks will help ease many of the ickier moments in life for you.
Organize Your Health: Parental Wisdom, Innovation, and the New Time Timer® Wash
POOR, UNAPPRECIATED PARENTS
A few decades ago, my best friend called me with a “You’re not going to believe this!” tale of woe. A mom of four, she’d spent her little ones’ formative years teaching them, in age-appropriate ways, the essential life skills, including hygiene tasks like tooth-brushing, bathing, and hand-washing. She always explained how each helped keep them healthy, never stinting on science but also focusing on the “what’s in it for me?” aspect necessary to persuade tiny humans to do anything.
Her little daughter, however, was always reluctant. No matter how much my friend tried to bring home the concept of germ theory in keeping everyone healthy, she still had to remind, cajole, wheedle.
Fast-forward a bit to the day my friend called me. Her daughter had just returned from a day of kindergarten, and, as kids often do, held forth breathlessly on the delights and fascinations of learning something new. My BFF’s daughter solemnly, gravely spoke to my (college-educated in the field of child development) friend as if she were a dim stuffed animal and reported, “Mommy, my teacher said that we have to always wash our hands. There are little invisible bugs that if we touch them and then touch our faces, we could get sick, and if we touch someone else, we could get them sick. It’s very important that you do this!”
Huh. Really?
Mothers the world over know the sad, universal truth. You can’t make someone believe (or do) something, even for their own good, until they are ready. My friend’s daughter had to hear it from an authority figure who wasn’t her mom. Someone who made it interesting and fun in a non-mom way. Her daughter had sagely nodded along in class to earn the approbation of her teacher, and only then did the facts matter to her.
Sometimes, even we know something is good for us and everyone around us, it doesn’t matter who tells us; we just don’t do it. We don’t recycle. Or we don’t back up our computers. Or we don’t assign homes to objects and put things away, and instead toss bills on top of the microwave, where they gather dust.
Some people need to avoid the stick; others need the carrot. Organizing new health behaviors is no different.
WE NEVER WANT TO HEAR THE WORD “UNPRECEDENTED” AGAIN
Early in the COVID pandemic, we were repeatedly told that the best things we could do to avoid exposure to this dangerous virus were:
- Wash our hands.
- Don’t touch our faces.
- Maintain a 6-foot or greater distance from others (AKA: “social distancing”).
- Wear masks.
Many of us got good at figuring out how far apart six feet was. For me, I pictured two shopping carts. CNN had a post called Social Distancing Means Standing 6 Feet Apart. Here’s What That Actually Looks Like with almost giddy cartoon depictions like, “Two Labrador Retrievers standing nose to tail” and a “Man Wearing a Top Hat.”
MOM, HE’S TOUCHING ME!
Some pieces of advice were easier to follow than others. I mean, if you have had the chicken pox or poison ivy, you know it’s hard to keep from scratching an itch. But before COVID, did you ever give thought to keeping yourself from touching your face?
It’s hard! I mean, as an organizing and productivity professional, I can tell you how to turn off notifications on your phone to keep yourself from being distracted, but short of tying your hands to your chair, there’s not a lot of good advice for keeping your hands off your face.
A few weeks into the pandemic, Mike Bodge, Brian Moore, and Isaac Blankensmith developed Do Not Touch Your Face, a machine-learning, in-browser app that, once you granted camera access, would shout, “No!” at you when your hand got close to your face.
We made a little site that will yell at you… whenever you touch your face. Hope it helps you learn to stop touching your face! Try it out: https://t.co/IGNEQZIFAX Made with @mikebodge @lanewinfield #donottouchyourface #coronaoutbreak #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/jL5Ids9UV0
— Isaac Blankensmith (@Blankensmith) March 4, 2020
Weird but helpful, it worked when you were sitting in front of your computer, but not when you were anywhere but there.
Eventually, University of Hawaii Professor Kim Binstead designed the JalapeNO app for Fitbits (and soon, Apple Watches) to help people keep their hands off their faces.
WHO WAS THAT MASKED MAN?
Back in March, who (except doctors) owned a mask, unless it was part of a Grey’s Anatomy cosplay costume? With a shortage of N95 masks and the need for them to get to healthcare workers, entire cottage industries have grown up around creating reusable masks for the rest of us. (A big thanks to friend-of-the-blog Jacki Hollywood Brown and her daughter for the gorgeous masks in Paper Doll‘s theme colors!)
Your favorite sports team? There’s a mask. (Go, team!)
Your alma matter? There’s a mask.
Masks that match your outfit? But of course!
A mask with some snark from regarding your favorite 19th century author? Is a single man in possession of a good fortune in want of a wife? I mean, come on, it’s universally acknowledged!
TIME TIMER WASH
And now we’ve come full circle. Hand washing. In those first few weeks, we learned we probably weren’t washing our hands long enough, even if we were washing them often enough. We’re grownups, we assume we know how to wash our hands, but then the CDC came out with this somewhat daunting 11-step graphic:
Some people were singing “Happy Birthday” to make sure they were doing it long enough, but that got old. I’ve been studying Italian for the past few years, so I started counting in Italian to accompany the ritual. Quattordici. Quindici. Sedici…Venti-due. Venti-tre. Sigh.
So, I was surprised (but delighted) to learn that one of the companies beloved by professional organizers and productivity specialists, Time Timer, had joined the fight for clean hands. The same company I’ve praised in these pages previously (and previously, and previously) for how they help children and adults visualize time has created a special timer to make hand-washing, well, if not fun, per se, less of a chore.
The Time Timer® WASH is a touchless, water-resistant visual timer for hand-washing.
The Time Timer WASH gives kids, impatient grownups, and anyone who isn’t great at judging time a clear, easily understood resource for getting hands germ-free. It’s not exactly a video game, but the lights and sounds encourage children (and anyone who needs a nudge) wash hands for a long enough period to kill germs.
Time Timer has paired advice from the (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the recommended duration of hand-washing time with Time Timer’s classic “disappearing disk” to help show the passage of time.
- It’s touchless, so there’s no transfer of germs to the timer, and consistent use conditions kids (and, y’know, everyone else) to wash hands for the length of time that’s truly necessary.
- There are no numbers on the dial, so children who haven’t learned to read or tell time can still grasp the concepts of elapsed time and time remaining.
- Research shows that sound can help reinforce behavioral steps but the WASH timer’s music and sound cues are optional, so you can operate it silently in “sound-sensitive” environments (like a pre-school during nap time) or with individuals for whom sound may not be appropriate.
It’s easy to see it being used in bathrooms and kitchens, but also in classrooms and in certain workplaces, like labs, restaurants, anywhere yucky stuff might be encountered.
Start the Time Timer WASH by holding your hand (or slowly waving it) in front of the Timer. There are visual cues from the LCD light-up disc and auditory cues (music and beeps) for the different stages of hand-washing:
- Soaping up (5 seconds)
- Scrubbing (20 seconds)
- Rinsing (5 seconds)
The Time Timer Wash has a variety of placement options. It can stand alone or be hung on the wall, and comes with a suction cup, which can be placed on either the bottom or back of timer. It does requite three 3 AA/1.5V batteries, which aren’t included.
It comes with a one-year 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Per Time Timer, “If you’re not completely satisfied, return your Time Timer to us within 12 months for a full refund or exchange. No questions asked.”
Time Timer WASH is available for pre-order now for $26.95.
See it in action:
If you’re a parent or teacher, please note that Time Timer is offering a free downloadable Activity Guide to help education elementary-aged children in the importance of handwashing. Per TimeTimer:
This Curriculum-based Activity Guide contains 5 interactive activities for teachers or parents to use with children while teaching about proper handwashing techniques and includes worksheet and activity templates throughout. Adaptions for distance learning and in-home schooling are also noted.
ONE LAST THING
Remember my best friend’s daughter? She’s in her third year of medical school now, working in a hospital while doing rotations through pediatrics, internal medicine, endocrinology, and so on. She washes her hands…a lot!
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Paper Doll on The Truth(s) About Standing Desks
Are you sitting down?
That’s what we ask people when we’re about to share upsetting news. Well, if you’re sitting down, and if you tend to be sitting down much of the time, this may not be news if you’ve been paying attention the past few years, but it’s certainly upsetting.
Spending too much time at our desks, plopped down (and probably hunched over), is pretty bad for us for a number of reasons, including those illustrated in this adorable TED-Ed Talk:
Articles like Sit Less, Live Longer and Too Much Sitting May Thin the Part of Your Brain That’s Important for Memory point out the major physical and cognitive problems associated with remaining seated.
But this doesn’t get into the latest and perhaps most important research. According to science writer Gretchen Reynolds, a recent Swedish study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that when you sit all day, your telomeres (the tiny caps on the ends of DNA strands) get shorter. Apparently, this is NOT A GOOD THING! As telomeres get shorter, the rate at which the body ages and decays speeds up. Conversely, the study found “that the telomeres in [those] who were sitting the least had lengthened. Their cells seemed to be growing physiologically younger.” Obviously, we all want young cells!
The Push for Standing Desks
So, the experts have said, STAND UP! Why? Well, they figured that for each thing that sitting does to you that’s bad, standing can reverse it.
Let’s start with ergonomics and posture. You can still slump a little when standing, but not to the same extent as when you’re sitting in a chair. So, standing can help you strengthen your core, tighten up your glutes, and strengthen other muscles. There’s also such a thing as Upper and Lower Cross Syndromes, which, when you spend too much time sitting, can lead to tension headaches, shoulder strain, and that oogy feeling of becoming one with your office chair. When you stretch your leg and torso muscles by standing, you’re a bit more fit. Or so the theory goes.
Then there’s your cardiovascular system. Standing while working increases metabolism (vs. sitting down), and the theory is that just by standing, you can reduce your risk of heart disease by increasing your blood circulation. Well, maybe.
The physical advantages of standing vs. sitting make sense. But some researchers have posited that standing has other advantages related to productivity, creativity, and cognition.
With regard to productivity, studies note that while standing, more nutrient-rich blood, more mood-enhancing hormones, and more oxygen can get to the brain. More nutrient-rich blood and oxygen means more cognition, per The Economist, and unless you’re that Danish prince, Hamlet, more thinking means more productivity. (Hamlet, however, really needed a Disney vacation, or at least a mindless afternoon Kardashian-TV.) And more mood-enhancing hormones should, logically (and up to a point), yield more creativity. Whoohoo!
Finally, while a celebrity endorsement doesn’t necessarily imply wisdom, there have certainly been some famous desk-standers, including Ernest Hemingway (who famously said, “Write drunk, edit sober,” so you have to imagine him leaning more than standing), Vladimir Nabakov, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, and Benjamin Franklin. Good company to keep – though, come to think of it, a number of them were tipplers and likely leaning like Hemingway.
The Tide May Be Turning
Up until recently, everyone had gotten a bit rah-rah about standing desks. There’s money to be made from standing desks, and health and productivity to be gained from standing, per se, so why not try it? Well, standing is well and good, but there’s some doubt as to whether standing desks do that much for you.
Boston Public Radio rather dramatically declared Throw Away Your Standing Desk after interviewing Arthur Caplan, Director of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center about the minimal benefits of just standing while working. (Enjoy the audio for some jokey byplay.)
Further, there’s some shocking reportage that standing desks could be making you dumber! Apparently, a recent study in the journal Ergonomics found that while “due to concerns about excessive sedentary exposure for office workers, alternate work positions,” were studied, but they found that prolonged standing may have negative “health and productivity impacts” and that while creative problem-solving did improve, “reaction time and mental state deteriorated.” Yikes.
So, the answer is, STAND UP, but don’t expect that standing desks are going to yield that many benefits.
The Best of Both Worlds
Use a standing desk if you want (but keep an eye out for muscle fatigue, swelling in your legs, ankles, or feet, and decreased in cognitive function). If your back needs more support, sit at your desk, but set a timer or use an app to remind you to get up from your desk every 45 minutes or so.
Take a brisk walk around the office, do some wall push-ups, or go outside to make a client call and enjoy some fresh air. It’s said that Aristotle’s followers, the Peripatetics, engaged in all of their philosophical discussions while ambling about the Lyceum in ancient Athens. Why not take a page out of their books (scrolls?) and propose West Wing-style walking-and-talking meetings with your colleagues instead of traditional sitting or recently-in-vogue stand-up meetings?
Chances are that movement, rather than just standing, will have a more positive effect, and a change of environment will jump-start your creativity.
Shopping for Your Solution
If you decide you must have a standing desk, Paper Doll has you covered. Really smart consumer sites like Wirecutter like the Fully line of adjustable standing desks, particularly the highly-rated Fully Jarvis Bamboo adjustable standing desk.
Of course, as with all furniture, prices range from high-end adjustable desks like those of Bush Business Furniture’s Stand 80 series to the DIY standing desk options and ideas on Pinterest.
Perhaps you’ve already got a desk you love. You could try what Paper Doll thinks of as a desk-topper (like a mattress pillow-topper), like HumbleWorks. The spine of the HumbleWorks has multiple slots, making it entirely adjustable. No matter your height, you can put your monitor and keyboard shelves at the correct ergonomic position for appropriate eye level and height.
The “spine” piece folds flat when not in use, so it’s easy to store.
Compare different versions of the HumbleWorks standing desk. For example:
- Stan 1 is compatible with Macs and PC laptops with screens up to 15″, is made of 18mm birch plywood, and is reinforced with steel suspension cables and pins.
- Stan 1.5 is compatible with Macs and PC laptops and desktops with screens up to 17″, is made of 18mm birch plywood, and is reinforced with steel suspension cables and pins.
- Stan 2 is compatible with Macs and PC laptops and desktops with screens up to 27″, is made of 22mm birch plywood, and requires reinforcement.
If you like the wood look but want an alternative that’s more portable (and more price-sensitive) investigate the StandStand, which weighs less than many laptops and can be assembled in minutes. Versions come in bamboo or birch with varying finishes, and in multiple styles (for laptop, laptop-and-mouse, or for two monitors).
Not sure how you feel about the whole standing desk kerfuffle? Not ready to plunk down money for something that may not have a profound impact? Why not start small?
Recently, friend-of-the-blog and Professional Daily Money Manager Nanette Duffey shared her experience with the Ergodriven Spark, a sturdy cardboard standing desk that will only run you $25! It’s not gorgeous, but it gives you plenty of room for your laptop, an external keyboard and mouse, and even a knick-knack or two.
What if you want the best of all worlds? Do you want something fairly portable and full-size? Then your best bet is Refold, a sturdy, stand-up desk made out of thick cardboard! At 14 pounds, it’s not as lightweight as the Ergodriven, but it’s a free-standing desk and will hold 187 pounds! The Refolds come in three sizes: small for petite types (5’2″ and under), medium for those from 5’2″ to 6′, and large for those tall drinks of water over 6 feet.
The Refold can have a cardboard or (for a teeny bit more money) a waterproof surface, can be painted or drawn on to customize it, and is fully recyclable. You can also purchase optional legs to turn it into a sitting desk for those days when you just can’t stand it!
One fairly significant note: the Refold is made in New Zealand, meaning that in addition to the $120-$190ish US dollars (depending on your product choice and the exchange rate), you’ll be paying some serious shipping charges.
Safety First
If you decide to keep on sitting, sit safely. Review these essential ergonomic tips for sitting, including:
- Sit with your feet flat on the floor.
- Keep your monitor at the same height as your line of vision.
- Sit so that your elbows are at a 90-degree bend when your hands are on the keyboard.
Finally, whether you decide to sit, stand, or work using a combination of both, make time to check that everything measures appropriately for your height. The NotSitting.com website has created an interactive sitting/standing-height desk calculator so that if you input your height, you can see the appropriate heights (whether sitting or standing) for your eyes and your elbows, and know how far your seat should be from the ground and how far your eyes should be from your monitor. For example, the following graphic shows what Paper Doll‘s ideal sitting and standing situation should be.
You’ve been reading this post for a while. Why not stand up, stretch, and take a walk to think about what you’ve learned?
Organize To Help First Responders: The Yellow Dot Program
Most of us spend time thinking about how to prevent medical emergencies. We try to exercise and eat healthily. We make doctor’s appointments, get all of the appropriate medical screening tests for our age group and gender, and we learn how to manage our health conditions in hopes of preventing complications.
Nobody likes to think about medical emergencies, but for the same reason we buy insurance (whether auto, home, health, or, in the worst case scenario, life insurance), we need to prepare for the unexpected. And when the unexpected does happen, we depend on first responders, particularly emergency medical technicians and paramedics, who have the training necessary to help us get safely treated.
So why not help the helpers?
“Downtown Hospital Ambulance” by sponki25 is licensed under CC BY 2.0
In our next two posts, we’re going to look at two resources to organize essential medical information so that first responders can render aid when we need it, whether we’re out and about, or at home.
YELLOW DOT PROGRAM
At a DiabetesSisters meeting a few years ago, someone mentioned the existence of Tennessee’s Yellow Dot program, but almost nobody in the room was aware of this life-saving project.
The Yellow Dot Program, available at no cost to participants, was initially developed as a regional program in the early 2000s. It is now a national program sponsored and funded by the United States Department of Transportation as a result of the work of the 113th Congress, the bill having been introduced by West Virginia’s Senator Joe Manchin III.
The purpose of the program is to help automobile drivers and their passengers communicate vital information to medical personnel (as well as police, firefighters, and other first responders) during road emergencies, like car accidents.
In case drivers or passengers are incapacitated, in shock, or are otherwise unable to communicate about their medical conditions, car owners can affix yellow stickers to their rear windshields to alert first responders that occupants of the car may require specialized medical attention. (Smaller stickers are available for motorcycle use.) Although state programs tend to accent Yellow Dot for use by senior citizens, anyone with a serious health condition or atypical health situation should consider making use of the program.
The stickers let first responders know to look in the glove compartment for a kit: a yellow plastic folder, container, or envelope. In it, they will find information regarding:
- the medical conditions, allergies, recent surgeries, and special needs of anyone riding in the car who might require special care
- lists of current prescriptions, dosages, and prescribers
- emergency contact information
- a photograph of the person so that he or she can be quickly identified as needing special attention
The Yellow Dot Program maintains no centralized database at any government or community level, so individuals concerned about privacy breaches should feel at ease. The information is maintained in the glove compartment and is not accessed by anyone (except the owner or passenger of a vehicle) unless there is an emergency situation.
At the meeting where I first learned about the Yellow Dot Program, we talked about the importance of police and medical personnel knowing that someone in the car might be suffering from hyper- or hypoglycemia, which can appear to the untrained eye to resemble drunkenness, stroke, dementia, or other health conditions.
Research shows that 90,000 to 100,000 individuals die each year due to adverse drug reactions, some of which result from standard treatments “in the field” to which an individual may be allergic. Similarly, an accident victim who has had a recent surgery may be at greater risk for complications, and first responders need to know that.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
If you know someone who has a medical condition that might require special on-the-scene treatment by EMTs and paramedics, encourage them to sign up for the Yellow Dot Program. Management of the program varies by location, and though it’s overseen by state Departments of Transportation, management often occurs at the county level.
While some programs allow online sign-up, other communities require that participants come to an enrollment station or registration center (often at the nearest DMV, although some local businesses sponsor the printing of Yellow Dot stickers and kits and help enroll participants). Help your loved ones gather the vital paperwork – including medical and prescription information and a current photo – to put in the yellow folder to be kept in the glove compartment, and make sure you or they actually put the sticker on the rear windshield!
Although the Yellow Dot Program is funded nationwide, it is voluntary, and many states have declined to participate; other states have shown interest but have not yet rolled out their programs. If your state is listed (below) without a link, there is likely no centralized program in your state, and you will need to call or search for your county’s transportation department or division of aging services. (Yes, Paper Doll feels this is all very disorganized at the state and federal levels! Harrumph!)
Iowa
Kansas
Massachusetts (search “Yellow Dot Program” and the name of your town rather than county)
Minnesota
New Hampshire
North Carolina
Note: In 2017, Illinois mysteriously canceled participation in the Yellow Dot Program, but encourages all drivers to register with the state’s emergency contact database, which serves a similar function.
If yours isn’t one of participating states listed belong, contact your state’s Department of Transportation to inquire if and when the Yellow Dot program will be available for you. While you’re waiting, you can purchase an unofficial National Yellow Dot Program kit (with stickers and standard or folding pockets) directly from retailer StoreSMART in various batch sizes (from 2 to 2500) or in packages of five from Walmart.
In addition to the stickers and kits, StoreSMART has free, downloadable PDF medical forms. (You can also review the websites of the participating states, above, as many, such as Alabama, have their own downloadable medical forms, accessible to all.)
COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES
Various communities have found opportunities to use the yellow dots beyond private vehicles. Adult day care centers for senior citizens and people with disabilities, as well as traditional day care centers for children, can make use of the program by helping individuals in their care (and caregivers or parents) develop a person-specific packet, and make copies for family vehicles, program/center vehicles, and care centers.
Next time, we’ll be talking about the Vial of Life program, and how to ensure that first responders can locate your essential medical information when they attend to you at home. Until then, be healthy, be safe, and be organized.
Paper Doll on the Smead Podcast: How To Get Organized When You Have a Chronic Illness
It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver. ~Mahatma Gandhi
You’ve heard me say it before: being organized can’t always prevent emergencies, but it can make catastrophes less catastrophic. In the past, we’ve talked about all the ways to organize for medical emergencies and put plans in place to create a softer landing when things go wrong. Other classic posts have looked at solutions for organizing your health information (a topic Paper Doll intends to update in the coming months).
Vital Signs: Organizing For A Medical Emergency–Part 1
Vital Signs: Gathering Information During/After A Medical Emergency–Part 2
Vital Signs: Maintaining Your Family’s Medical Records–Part 1 (Paper)
Vital Signs: Maintaining Your Family’s Medical Records–Part 2 (Digital)
A lot has happened since I wrote those posts in 2009 after my own medical emergency experiences. For example, in 2011, I was diagnosed with diabetes, and became active in DiabetesSisters, a support group for women, and now serve on the board of directors for Partners and Peers for Diabetes Care, a Chattanooga-based non-profit.
Then, a little over a year ago, Paper Mommy had a freak conflagration while stripping and changing the bed, seriously dented an upstairs wall, and ended up wrapped in plaster and with her neck in a brace. Although always amusing, she was not amused.
The great lady healed well, thank goodness, although she couldn’t drive for five months. Then scarily, she had unexpected surgery in August, and a long recovery (none of which prevented her from keeping hospital staff and visiting nurses in stitches (if you’ll pardon the pun)). Paper Mommy‘s experiences, along with those of many of my clients with diabetes, MS, lupus, and other chronic conditions, increased my interest in looking at the factors that go into organizing to make life easier when our health fails us for longer than the duration of the flu.
In the last few weeks, I sat down with the wonderful John Hunt for Smead‘s Keeping You Organized video podcast to chat about this very topic. For anyone who has read the Paper Doll blog before, you know that brevity is not my greatest strength, and I had so much to share that our conversation extended to two podcast installments. Take a peek:
How to Get Organized When You Have a Chronic or Extended Illness: Part 1
How to Get Organized When You Have a Chronic or Extended Illness: Part 2
If organizing fascinates you (and why wouldn’t it?) and you like going down a rabbit hole (in a good way!), clicking to watch one video podcast after another, you might want to head to the Smead Keeping You Organized podcast page for each of the two shows:
Once you’re on those pages, you can even opt for the audio-only version of the podcasts, in case you want to take us with you while you’re running errands in the car (or just plain running).
Over the course of 2018, you’re likely to see me post more often about issues that relate to organizing and health issues, including topics like:
- How to organize your home to support your health and recovery
- How to organize your tangible resources, like medications and medical devices, to maximize efficiency, including key strategies and innovating storage solutions
- The importance of health-related legal documents like health care proxies and medical directives
- Ways to evaluate your options for organizing, storing, accessing, and sharing your medical information
- How to use health portals to access your medical information
- Tools for organizing your health-related finances
- Ways to save money and stretch your health-care dollars
- How to organize resources for emotional support
- Getting support for caregivers and family members
After you watch the videos, let me know in the comments if there are healthcare-related organizing questions you’d like answered or topics you wish to see covered in the blog.
Until next time, I wish you good health!
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