How to Organize Medicine

There are many areas in life where we could all do to be more organized, but when it comes to your prescription medications, how organized you are can have an important influence on your health. Taking the wrong meds at the wrong time or in the wrong combination can potentially lead to a health emergency, especially for seniors with a lot of prescriptions to keep up with.

Don’t risk it! You need to figure out the best system for you to help you keep your prescriptions straight. Fortunately, these tips can help.

1. Keep a list of all your meds.

First things first, you have to know what your prescriptions are. Write out a list of all the meds you’re taking, but don’t just include their names. Add all the important details you need to remember:

You want to have regular, easy access to this information so put it somewhere easy to remember and see, like your fridge.

2. Store your meds strategically.

To be organized when you’re taking your meds, you need to be organized in how you store them. Systems can vary a bit on this, but some tricks you can use to help organize them effectively are making use of a pill organizer, color coding your prescription bottles, or taking some inspiration from the creative ideas over at Pinterest.

3. Create a reminder system.

You can’t rely on memory alone here. You need a system to alert you to when it’s time to take your meds. There are automatic pill dispensers on the market that will not only help you out with #2, but also allow you to set up noise reminders when it’s time to take your pills and phone call alerts if you miss one.

Most phones now come with built-in alarm clocks, which is another easy option. If you’re used to more traditional timers or alarm clocks, you can always stick with what’s familiar.

4. Try to make it regular.

Trying to remember to take a pill sometime in the day is much harder than remembering to take that same pill every day at lunchtime. Your reminder system should help, but do also try to turn it into a regular routine.

You’ll be more likely to keep up with your prescriptions even if the electronic you use for your reminders dies or you’re out at the usual time you take your pills.

5. Keep a record of each pill you take.

You don’t want to accidentally take the same prescription twice. Keep a notebook or whiteboard somewhere close to your meds so you can take a minute to jot down each pill you take. Make this a part of your routine so always doing it feels like second nature.

The whole point of those prescriptions is to improve your health, you don’t want to make any mistakes that backfire and make you feel worse. Get a system into place that makes it easy to keep your prescriptions straight, so you don’t have to worry about taking them incorrectly.

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Kristen Hicks

Kristen Hicks is an Austin-based copywriter and lifelong student with an ongoing curiousity to learn and explore new things. She turns that interest to researching and exploring subjects helpful to seniors and their families for SeniorAdvisor.com.