How I Keep My Medication Organized

Sometimes the most useful guidance to help make a situation more efficient is the most obvious. We get so stuck in our ways that it’s hard to see how beneficial change can be to making routine work better for us. After doing something for so long, it’s always a good idea to take a moment to objectively assess and ask, “Is this really working for me?”

This is true for many CF routines like taking medications and doing airway clearance – tasks many of us have done for decades. We all have our rhythm to completing CF care that we feel comfortable doing, but don’t forget sometimes the most obvious advice is the best advice.

Cut out the number of steps

Something primal I have realized about the human brain is it doesn’t like completing a lot of steps. In fact, when there’s too many steps to a repeated task, a lot of the time your brain will say, “Eh, this is too complicated. Forget it.” If a task is complicated to complete, it takes a lot of focus and therefore a lot of brain resources making it unsustainable day in and day out. This is the lens through which I see medication and treatment adherence.¹

If I am expected to walk upstairs, open 5 to 10 different individual bottles, pour pills into my hand, walk downstairs, fill the water glass, and swallow my pills, I am not doing that every day. Simple as that. In contrast, if I open Monday’s pill container and have my water bottle sitting next to me, I use fewer resources and am more likely to repeat the same task the next day. Dumb it way down for success! Make that dumbed-down regimen your daily rhythm.

Make my CF medicine easy to access

Along the same lines, access is literally everything in medical adherence. If your medications or treatments are hard to get to, even something as simple as opening a drawer can serve as a barrier to deter you from accessing them. In my experience, everything medication and treatment-wise should be at your fingertips in a spot that you spend a lot of time in.

In my case, I use an IKEA RÅSKOG Utility Cart to organize my treatments and medications. It’s easy to push around and can hold everything I need – my vest, nebulizer, inhaled medications organized into bins, and all my pills. The one downside is now that I have kids, I find keeping my pills in my room and that doesn’t allow easy access. Therefore, it’s time to reevaluate the location of where I keep my pills so I am more likely to take them.

Gather everything before you sit down

There is nothing worse than sitting down to complete treatments only to realize that you forgot something. You unplug your vest hoses, turn off the nebulizer, and precariously balance the filled neb cup without spilling its contents and head out to find the missing item. In the end, you’re wasting time and also adding to the feelings of annoyance and inconvenience treatments can stir up.

Combating forgetfulness, when I gather my items for treatments I throw everything in a plastic bowl: 2 neb cups, albuterol, sodium chloride, Pulmozyme, and my inhalers. I double-check to ensure I have everything I need, then I will settle in. Saves me a lot of unplugging in the end!

How do you stay organized taking medication and completing treatments? Share your process below!