MONDAY, JULY 23, 2018
Life just gets crazy sometimes. You have places to be, people to see, kids in activities, work to do, and the never-ending to-do list to conquer. Summer always seems to be particularly busy even though school is (usually) on a break and you have more freedom to do what you want.
However, in all of life's busyness, prepping can sometimes get put on the back burner. We want to prep, but we have so much on our plates that we don't think we have time right now to prep. Even though hardcore preppers will cringe when I say this, sometimes that is okay to put prepping to the side for a little bit. We all have times in our lives that we are just plain overwhelmed with priorities and responsibilities. We need to cut ourselves some slack.
Now maybe you are getting a little antsy knowing you need to pay attention to your preps and need to practice those skills. You are just not sure when you are going to have time.
How can you prep with when real life gets in the way? As always, I have some suggestions.
1. Read some great prepping books and magazines. We all have downtime in the car, at night before bed, and/or during lunch at work. Bring a book or download a book on your e-reader and start reading! If you can't actively prep like you want to, the next best thing to do is to be learning about prepping in some form. Maybe you need to learn emergency communications or water storage tips. Maybe you need a fresh perspective on prepping or just some lists on what you could be doing. There are a lot of great prepping books out there! Just pick one and start reading!
2. Pick some items for the food storage while grocery shopping. This one might seem like a no-brainer, but we sometimes just rush through the grocery store without thinking about it. If you have to buy a container of Parmesan cheese, pick up two or three. If you need canned fruit or applesauce, grab a few extra. Just make a conscious effort to buy a little extra food while at the grocery store.
3. Take $5 or $10 out of your wallet right now and put it into your emergency cash stash. There! You just did something to prep without any real effort what so ever.
4. Play a scenario game with your husband and/or kids while driving. This is a very easy game that I would do sometimes with my own kids. You start out with a question, "What would you do if...?" You can ask what would they do if the power went out, if there was a fire in the house, if a friend was physically hurt, if there was a stranger in the house, and so on. I would keep the questions age appropriate as younger kids might not understand what to do yet. With older kids or other adults, you can be specific in the scenarios as well as a little more serious and far-reaching. The point of this game to discuss what to do in specific scenarios, generate good discussion and remind others about what to do and what is the plan. All that points to prepping!
5. Realize that many of your daily activities are prepping. Are you spending a lot of time in the garden? You are prepping. Are you canning a lot? You are prepping. Did you remember to take a full water bottle and snacks with you today? You are prepping. Did you remember to do laundry and wash dishes today? You won't have to worry so much if you don't have running water tomorrow. Did you take a walk, hike, bike, or run today? You are working on your physical health which is important in prepping. It might seem like life is getting in the way of prepping, but we do a lot in our daily lives that is preparing us for another possible crisis.
6. Go fill three empty containers with water right now. There! Again, you just prepped and you might have spent fifteen minutes doing it. Whether you choose to do drinking water or non-potable water, the choice is yours!
7. Do you have emergency contact numbers set up on your phone? Do you have your list of personal emergency contacts set up on your phone and written down on paper? Take 15-20 minutes and do that now. You just prepped again. Already did that once? Double check them now - you know there is always someone you might want to take off the list! Bonus - you can do this in the car waiting on your kids or over a lunch break.
8. Shift your priorities and make some time for prepping. Sometimes our priorities get screwed up and we just lose sight of what is important. Take a look at your priorities and see what can be moved around. You may be spending too much time online, binge-watching a television show, playing games, or wasting time otherwise. Too much of that stuff is bad for you and should not be a priority over prepping and your family's welfare. Your kids may be involved in way too much stuff and could benefit from being home and helping you. You just need to take a hard look at your priorities and think about what you can do to make prepping higher on the list.
9. Add toilet paper, ibuprofen, band-aids, and dish soap to your shopping list. Don't use those four things? (I don't really want to know if you don't use toilet paper - too much information!) Add four things you use daily that you don't want to be without to your shopping list. The next time you are shopping, be sure to buy them. You just did something for your preps!
10. Clean out your vehicle. While you are pumping gas, waiting for kids to get done, waiting for your lunch break to be over, or just got home, clean out your vehicle. Our vehicles have a tendency to become cluttered and messy very quickly. What if you had to bug out or evacuate quickly? You would want your vehicle clean and ready to go. Take 15-30 minutes to clean out the trash, organize, and remove anything not necessary from the vehicle. If you have another 10-15 minutes, vacuum out the vehicle too. You will be a happier person with a clean vehicle and you will be ready to load and leave a moment's notice!
You can prep when real life gets in the way! You might not realize you are prepping, but you really are. Most of us just think we are too busy to get things done, but in reality, we have time. We just need to shift our perspective. Do what you can every day to prepare even if you only spend fifteen minutes doing so.
Thanks for reading,
Erica
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