Simple Steps for Preparing for Emergencies, Courtesy of IDEO

You know you should have a disaster preparedness plan, you really do. You know you should have water, and cans of food, and a flashlight and a plan, but everytime you start to think about getting it all together you just get overwhelmed. Perhaps this is you, or perhaps this me just projecting onto you, but as it becomes increasingly clear that we should all have some sort of plan in place for a disaster (of the man-made or natural variety) the guilt and anxiety of the whole thing may be stopping you (me) from just getting the dang thing done.

The good, design-minded folks at design company IDEO put together this very handy, very digestible overview of how to knock out to the first few steps of preparing for a disaster.

In general, emergencies and disasters are abstract and uncomfortable ideas, so we put off planning for them. IDEO suggests that breaking down the plan into easy steps spread across a few days and involving others will help you stay on track for establishing a plan.

They recommend starting with a super simple step you can do right now: Follow local alerts. Sign up for notifications from your local fire department and emergency management service. Follow local emergency services on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

There are three more small steps you can spread over the next week, broken down into a doable timeline to help you and your family remain safe and prepared for emergencies. Head on over to the IDEO blog for more information and some handy visuals.

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