How I work with families

The corporate office has nothing on your busy household — a bustling hub of family comings and goings from morning school bus to the evening bedtime stories.

I work with Beverly (she prefers I call her Bev) and Nick Coleman — and Matt (age 18), Paul (age 12), and Mildred (age 1, or 20 in fish-years) to help them juggle their intertwined family schedules, remembering the details so that they can focus on what's important.

Today is a Wednesday, and it's a busy one: an early meeting for Nick, Bev's at a conference, soccer for Paul, a mid-term for Matt, and a water change for Mildred.

7:15am
Chicago
Text Bev a wake-up call on her iPhone. To: Sandy; From: Bev — Remind me to wake up at 7:15am
7:30am
Portland
Text Nick to leave and drop Paul at school. To: Sandy; From: Nick — Reminder: Get Paul to school by 7:45am
8:00am
Kick-start Bev, Nick, Matt, and Grandpa's day with a daily email digest of what's coming up.
8:15am
Text Nick 15 minutes before his 8:30am meeting. To: Sandy; From: Nick — Remember Sales Forecast Meeting Wednesday 8:30am
11:15am
Twitter (Instant messenger and SMS) Matt about his mid-term To: Sandy; Cc: Bev, Nick; From: Matt — remind me about Psych 101 mid-term next wed at 11:30pm
11:45am
Text Bev a reminder about her lunch meeting. To: Sandy; From: Bev — Reminder: Lunch meeting with Frank Sanchez Wed at noon
1:00pm
Bev looks up her flight information by email from her iPhone. To: Sandy; From: Bev — look up today @travel
To: Bev; From: Sandy — #1 3:15pm CHI - 4:22pm PST United 237 CHI to PDX
2:45pm
Text Grandpa a reminder about Paul's weekly soccer practice. To: Sandy; Cc: Grandpa, From: Bev — Remember to watch Paul's soccer practice on Wednesday 3-4:20pm @weekly

Text Paul about staying for soccer practice To: Sandy; From: Bev — Remember soccer practice after school Wed 3:30pm @weekly @paul
6:00pm
Text Paul about Mildred's weekly water change. To: Paul; Cc: Sandy; From: Matt — You need to change Mildred's water tomorrow! Sandy, remind Paul to change Mildred's water on Wednesday evening @weekly.

Phew! — and that's only one day's worth. Good thing I'm here to remember so the Colemans don't have to! Examples for families »