NOTE 1: Since I’m retired now, on Medicare, and collecting the Social Security benefits I worked for decades to accrue, I figure I’ve earned the right to talk about “old folks”. Yes?

NOTE 2: Although the title implies a series, I’m not promising a series. We’ll see.

 

It’s not just old folks who take pills!

One time I attended a birthday party for a friend who was turning 50. There were black balloons and people were giving her gag gifts, one of which was a pill organizer. But I didn’t get it. What did a pill organizer have to do with getting old?

I mean, it’s pretty clear to me now that I’m older myself, but I had been using a pill organizer for so long (I was in my early 40s) that I didn’t realize everyone didn’t need or use one. I guess not everyone has a thyroid issue or other early-diagnosed medical condition. Even so, I knew tons of younger people who took vitamins and other nutritional supplements. Did they not use pill organizers? Or, if they didn’t, would it not be easier than opening each bottle every day and then (sometimes) wondering if they’d taken their pills or not?

I notice Penn and Kim Holderness waited (purposely?) until he was 50, and she nearly so, to make fun of themselves in this regard:

 

Pill organizers can be handy until they’re not

Another time I had an organizing client with a TBI (traumatic brain injury). She had to take lots of medications and was getting them all mixed up. I asked if she didn’t have a pill organizer. After explaining what it was, and showing her a picture, she was so impressed you’d have thought I’d invented it myself! She asked, “Where might I get such a thing?” Well, the drug store, of course. Among other places. She was so smart (and had once been awarded Teacher of the Year) that it was hard to tell if she had truly never heard of a pill organizer or if she had just forgotten as a result of her TBI. (Probably the latter.)

But even smart people without brain injuries sometimes have trouble keeping their medications straight. And things change — medications, dosages, pill sizes, schedules, routines. So sometimes pill organization needs to change too.

It’s easy to be influenced to purchase a cute or fancy or unique pill organizer. And you might feel dumb if it doesn’t work for you. Don’t forget to think through what you really need, and why, and what you will really use.

 

Personal experience

There is no way to address all possible situations — or pill organizers — in a blog post.

In any case, the point is not to convince you to use a particular type of organizer, but to share my experience with having to change my containers and systems from time to time.

As you can see from the first image (at the top of the post), I have used a number of sizes of the same type of pill organizer over the years. Smaller when my pills were smaller. Larger, when my pills or supplements were larger and didn’t fit into a small one. A single-day version, and whatever size I was using at the time to pack earrings for travel.

Twice-a-day

This one was great during a time when I had to take pills twice a day. But then it got complicated. Sometimes I’d need to take a pill in the middle of the night, or sometimes there were early AM pills and late AM pills rather than PM pills.

Pretty and fun

This rainbow organizer was fun. It was easy enough to fill with the size and shape of pills I was taking at the time. It was handy when I needed to take pills three times a day and was also away from home during the day. (Each day is removable.) And it’s pretty!

Monthly

I have never used one of these. Maybe you’d relish the thought of only refilling your pills once a month. On this one, each section can be removed and used separately, too. But I like to know at a glance whether or not I’ve taken my pills. I don’t want to have to also figure out if today is the 16^th or the 17^th. I’m more likely to already know it’s Wednesday. It also looks fiddly, and would take me 4X as long to fill as a weekly organizer. While filling it could certainly be scheduled for the 1st of every month, that might never (for me) be often enough to feel like a comfortable habit.

My current system

This might look complicated, but hear me out…

I separated the bin with homemade cardboard dividers. On the left are pills I only take as needed. On the right are spare refills. In the middle, everything I’m taking daily right now.

The lid of each bottle is labeled with when I need to take it. (Note that one of them says “2/day” — twice a day — and another one says “AM+alone”.) When I get a refill, I swap the new lid for the labeled lid.

The small white organizer is for the “AM+alone” pill. And the small blue organizer is for the “PM” and the ”2/day” pills. Those organizers sit next to my bathroom sink, the most convenient place for me remember to take those particular pills.

The larger white organizer contains all the “AM” pills (and the other “2/day” pill). It sits on my kitchen counter near where I make my coffee in the morning, the most convenient place for me to remember to take them.

 

Refilling doesn’t need to be a chore!

I mean, it is a “chore” in that it’s a task that needs to be done. But it doesn’t need to be onerous. First thing Sunday morning, I take the last of the “AM+alone” pills in the bathroom and then take the containers with me into the kitchen for refilling. So, since I’ve already taken my “AM+alone” pill, the newly refilled pill in the Sunday morning slot sits there until the next Sunday morning.

I find that if I have a clear space on the counter to work on; and the size and shape of organizers I need; and the dosages written on the pill bottle caps, it all goes smoothly and takes very little time. I like to play beat the clock. I put something in the microwave or set a timer and see how much pill organizing I can do before time is up. It only takes a few minutes. And if I’m not done, I’m nearly so, and I just finish. You could also pick a favorite song to entertain yourself while sorting pills, and try to finish before it’s over. If you’re not sure how long it actually takes you, why not time yourself and see?

Blog post: 15 Ways to Make Chores Fun!

If you dread refilling your pills, I hope something in this blog post will help you figure out a more efficient, or less painful, way to do it.

Do you use a pill organizer?

Do you consider it an “old folks” thing?

What is your favorite pill organizer, and have you ever switched because your old one didn’t work for you anymore?

Please share with us in the comments below!