I got an e-mail the other day from a woman I had never met regarding her mother.  I connected with this woman 12-15 years ago (I honestly cannot remember) online and we became part of an e-mail group which grew from receiving a quote everyday to learning about their families, happiness and hurt in their lives.  We created our own Facebook/MySpace/Twitter years before the craze.  This particular e-mail was to inform us that her mom “had passed and had gone to heaven.”  How do you respond to this, from a woman I did not know about a woman I had never met yet felt deep sadness to know a member of our group, a lovely wife and mother, was gone?  I responded by telling her how I “met” her mom and how knowing her impacted my life.  She told me she knew about me, too.  Rather than being creeped out, I was happy to know Julie shared her experience with our online group with her family.

It got me thinking…here was a situation where this woman continued to receive e-mails after her death.  This must happen all of the time.  That is what creeped me out!  I decided to do some things at home to alleviate any burden on my family if such an event should happen unexpectedly.  After that, I came up with a short list of things to do at work to cover my bases in case I get hit by a meteor.

1. Make a notebook of websites with usernames and passwords.  I know, I know, never ever write these things down.  The way I look at it, if someone wants to know how to log into The Chronicle of Higher Education, well, so be it!  I understand that many of the websites I work with have sensitive personal information like social security numbers and addresses (official assignor websites).  Someone must still know how to access this information.  Group them logically.
2. Make sure you are not the only person who can open your safe.  Obviously the fewer people who can access the safe the better but too few can be just as worrisome.
3. Clearly label your file cabinets.  I am anal about this so I guess I must have subliminally known this all along!
4. Create office “Sparknotes.”  Get a twelve month calendar (you can easily print templates online) and enter major reports and events first.  Fill in with seasonal tasks then monthly repetitive tasks.  Then make a list of things you do every week (ex. Log in purchases which have been received).
5. Have a backup of supplies.  When I open a box of printer toner I write my name on it and give it to our administrative assistant who then orders it for me.  It goes in my closet until the next time so I am never out of important supplies.

There may be more important things to do at your office.  This list is really just a beginning – a way to get you thinking that you really do not work in a vacuum.  As depressing it may be, things happen every day that can prevent us from doing our jobs.  Rather that worry while convalescing from the meteor strike, have some things in order all of the time for peace of mind.

Until next time!

Jude Russo Caserta

AthleticBudgetCoach.com/blog

Twitter: JudeCaserta Linkedin: Jude Russo Caserta

E-mail: judi_caserta@athleticbudgetcoach.com

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