Task: Organize Your Personal VIP Contacts

We’re not talking about family at this point; it’s the people who can provide guidance or assistance to your family during a difficult situation.

Some of the following people might seem obvious to you, but does your family know how to reach them? Here are VIP categories with some thoughts about who to include to help you along the way.

Friends

Your family knows them by name, but do they know how to reach them? Facebook has solved this for the most part, but not everyone uses it regularly. What about those friends you’ve lost touch with but still love like crazy? It could be a college buddy from many years ago or someone you’ve played Mahjong with for ages.

Co-workers

Sometimes a current or former co-worker morphs into close personal friends, sometimes they’re well-regarded acquaintances. Include how you know them in the contact description since your family might not even know they exist.

Neighbors

The extent of the relationship your family has with your neighbors might just be a friendly wave when driving by, but neighbors can be lifesavers in an emergency, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. With families scattered all over and unable to see each other, knowing a person is right next door who can check on parents or other people who may need assistance is more important than ever.

Religious Organizations

If faith plays an important part in your life include the main contact for your church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or wherever you go to pray. Your family may attend services with you, but there’s always a chance you’ll need a person of faith in an emergency.

Other Organizations

Do you belong to any groups (support or otherwise), veterans’ associations, clubs, or alumni associations? It’s easy to let these slip through the cracks.

Charities & Volunteer Work

Giving to charity is great, as is devoting your time to a cause. If you’ve done work to help others, whether it’s regularly volunteering for events, being a big brother or sister, or manning a phone for a telethon, these are the contacts that could inspire others to reach out if you’re unavailable or pick up where you left off.

You might be wondering: What about your family? Relax, we’ll get to them in a separate task because you need to do more for them than simply list out a name, number, email, and description. Plus, haven’t we given you enough people to think about for now?

Your Task

Add all the Personal VIPs that we listed above to the main contact list on your phone, with clear details about who they are and how they fit into your life.

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