You Better Have an Emergency Plan

Do you have an emergency plan for both your work and your home?

In this case I don’t mean an escape route or disaster plan. What I’m referring to is what happens when you personally have “an emergency” and I’m using that term broadly to mean anything from the flu to a death in the family to a child who comes down with pneumonia.

You don’t have time to draw up plans or instructions when something unexpected hits. You need to have your emergency plan ready and available ahead of time. It does not have to be a binder with pages and pages of manuals. It can be a file folder on your laptop, a simple printed checklist, or notes written in a folder. You decide what works for you.

What goes in your emergency plan?

That’s also up to you.

What must get done if you are unexpectedly are out of commission for a few days?

• Maybe a checklist of basic chores with instructions for home.
• Are there certain tasks that must be performed every day/every week at work? Payments to be made? A database to be updated?
• Who should be called if you’re out of work? Are there any important clients that need to be taken care of or informed? Is there another colleague that can step in to handle emergencies?

Do you have instructions that someone could follow if they had to cover for you in a pinch?

This is especially difficult if you are a small business or work from home, but there still may be things that can be done.

Try to leave yourself a buffer for project, client or proposal deadlines so you won’t be in trouble if you lose a few days.

Everyone’s emergency plan will be different, but with a little bit of forethought a minor emergency doesn’t have to turn into a major disaster.