Building a family knowledge base with AI
Tech brain moment: I realized that all our family's important information is scattered across my brain, my husband's brain, various apps, email threads, paper folders, and a junk drawer. So I built a "family knowledge base" using Notion and AI.
It has:
- Medical info for everyone (allergies, medications, doctor contacts, insurance details)
- Home maintenance schedule (when the furnace was last serviced, water heater age, etc.)
- Important documents and where the physical copies are stored
- Kids' school info (teacher names, pickup procedures, allergies reported)
- Emergency contacts and procedures
- Financial accounts overview (no passwords — just which institutions and account types)
Then I used ChatGPT to help me create templates for each section and write SOPs (standard operating procedures) for things like "what to do if the power goes out" or "what to do if a kid gets hurt at school."
My husband said I was being "extra" until the babysitter needed our son's doctor's info and I pulled it up in 5 seconds. Now he thinks it's genius. Classic.
The whole setup took about 3 hours with AI help. Without AI it would have taken me a week.
Sarah this is EXACTLY what I need, especially for my dad's care. Right now all his medical info is in a folder that I carry everywhere and I live in fear of losing it. If something happened to me tomorrow, nobody would know his medication schedule, his doctors names, anything.
Could you share your Notion template? Or even just the categories you used? I want to do this for my dad's care specifically.
Lisa absolutely! I'll put together a simplified version focused on elder care and share it. The medical section is the most critical — medication names, dosages, timing, prescribing doctor, pharmacy, last refill date, next refill date. Plus a section for "things the ER needs to know" that you can pull up on your phone in an emergency.
For your dad specifically, I'd add sections for: daily routine (dementia patients do better with consistency), behavioral triggers, things that calm him, and a communication guide for anyone else who might care for him.
This is genuinely excellent. As a pharmacist, I can't tell you how many times patients come in unable to remember their medications or dosages. Having this information accessible on your phone could literally be lifesaving in an emergency.
One addition for the medication section: include a "reason for taking" column. Example: "Lisinopril 10mg — blood pressure." This helps anyone who needs to make decisions about your family member's care understand the full picture quickly.