Keeping track of Mum's appointments and tasks
The GP appointment is in one chat, the shopping list in another, and the number for home care is on a note at whoever lives closest. It isn't a lack of will that makes this messy. It's the lack of one place where things are written down. Here's how to make that place.
Why the chat never becomes an overview
A chat is sorted by when something was said, not by what still applies. The message saying the appointment moved to Thursday sits twelve messages above a conversation about something else entirely, and nobody finds it again. Chat is excellent for talking to each other, but it can't tell you what's true right now. You need something else for that.
The four things an overview needs
Regular tasks with the name of whoever does them. Appointments with the date, the time and who goes along. A duty week — who is responsible for the unexpected right now. And a contact card with home care, the GP and the pharmacy. With those four in place, most of the confusion is gone. Anything beyond that rarely gets filled in.
Keep health details out of it
Diagnoses, medication lists and medical notes don't belong in a shared overview. Partly because they're sensitive and easily go astray in a family chat, and partly because they're rarely what you need to coordinate. Write that someone is going with her to the GP on Thursday at eleven, not why. What you're sharing is logistics, not a medical record.
Write it once, share it where you already are
New tools die because someone can't be bothered to install them. The simplest thing that works is an overview you can paste straight into the chat the family already uses, as plain text, and ideally print and put on the fridge. Nobody has to learn anything new to read it, and you can update it when something changes.
Update it at a fixed time
Pick a time each week — Sunday evening, say — when whoever has the duty week updates the overview and shares it again. A fixed rhythm is what keeps the overview accurate in March. An overview that's only updated when someone remembers becomes unreliable within a month, and then you're back in the chat.
Include the paperwork
Bills, applications to the council, appeal deadlines and powers of attorney easily fall through the cracks, because there's no appointment to remind anyone. Put them in as regular tasks with a name and a deadline, the same way as shopping and laundry. This is often where a sibling who lives far away can take on a real share of the work.
Questions and answers
What should a shared overview for siblings contain?
Regular tasks with names, appointments with a date and who goes along, who has the duty week, and the phone numbers for home care, the GP and the pharmacy. Four things are enough, and more rarely gets filled in.
Should we use a shared calendar?
A shared calendar is fine for appointments, but it doesn't tell you who is responsible this week or which number to ring. Use both if you like, but let the overview be the one that counts.
Can we put medication in the overview?
We'd advise against it. Health information spreads easily in a family chat, and it's rarely needed to coordinate. Write when and who, not why.
How often should the overview be updated?
Once a week at a fixed time, by whoever has the duty week. A fixed rhythm is what keeps it accurate months from now.
Do my siblings need to install anything to read it?
No. The overview can be shared as plain text in the chat you already use, or printed. Everyone can read it, whatever phone they have.
Make the overview in two minutes
Appointments, regular tasks, the duty week and the phone numbers in one text you can paste into the family chat. Free, no account.
Make your overviewOther things we've made
Also for families keeping the everyday coordinated between them.
Also for families keeping the everyday coordinated between them.
Also for families keeping the everyday coordinated between them.
Also in Norwegian, made by the same people.