As you may know, Bob, I am one of those invisible ladies in the throes of perimenopause who is very much looking forward to the complete cessation of menstrual periods. However, peri means that I’m pretty much going through a second puberty with all of the accompanying hormonal fluctuations. This, combined with my two autoimmune disorders, means that I take an amusing amount of meds and supplements every day in order to remain functional.

My daily intake is split up into my morning meds, my afternoon supplements, and my evening meds (yes, I rattle when I walk, moving on). Morning is a simple matter of two pills, as is evening, but the afternoon supplement train was always a pain in the butt because I’d have to open 6-7 bottles to get everything I needed. A lot of the time I would blow this off because I was busy doing something else, and I would then pay the price later.

Anyway, we went to NOLA the weekend before last and I decided to pick up some pill organizers for Ramón and myself so that I wouldn’t have to pack fifteen million pill bottles in my suitcase. The organizer is very much like this one, with slots for AM and PM meds (yes, I know I take them three times a day, but I just brought the two bottles for the nighttime meds).

It worked nicely during our stay, and when we came home I unpacked everything and realized that I’d accidentally loaded the Thursday PM section even though I’d already taken those meds at home. Since it was already loaded, I figured what the hell, let’s reload the entire thing with the morning/afternoon meds, and that way I won’t have to fuss with bottles every day for a week.

Oh. My. GOD. You wouldn’t think that something this prosaic would be a gamechanger, but I can tell you that it truly is. Not only have I been remembering to take my morning meds when I’m supposed to take them (usually not a problem but sometimes I’d slip), but I’ve been taking my afternoon meds every afternoon on time. It’s so much easier to pull out the organizer, shake out the supplements and pop them instead of having to open multiple bottles and pull out what I need.

Why is this a big deal? Because as I said, I need these supplements to keep my creaky failing metabolism on course. When I don’t take them, unpleasant things happen. But last week I (CW: digestive issues ahead) pooped regularly and with ease, lost four pounds, remembered to eat, and slept like a log. Writing was much easier, and I even felt like exercising more when I wasn’t fighting off whatever bug I’d picked up in NOLA.

Long story short, if you take a lot of meds/supplements and aren’t already using one of these beauties, pick one up from your local pharmacy or supermarket (and don’t worry about the old fogey connotations. Old fogeys are pretty damned smart). It’ll take you 3-4 minutes to load on Sunday, and then you’re set for the rest of the week. Your body will thank you for thinking ahead.