21 Prepping Tasks You Can Implement Right Now

Don’t wait for that “perfect” moment to get prepared. There is no perfect moment. All you have is now and you’re the only one in control of how well prepared you are.
Not everything has to be complicated, either. While there might be tasks that take more time or larger investments, certainly put those on your list of things to do, but there are plenty of things that can be done RIGHT NOW!
Here are 21 prepping tasks you can do RIGHT NOW!
Make a budget – This is a fairly simple task that can be completed with minimal effort, depending on how you already track your spending. Big part of preparedness is making sure we’re financially set.
Save a buck – even if it’s switching over $1 into a savings account, let’s start saving here and there!
Buy some rice – buying a bag of rice is one of the easiest things you can do. Of course, if you don’t eat rice, then try to get something else non-perishable and fairly cheap, like a can of food.
Make a buddy burner – this is a fun project and really easy. Here’s how to make a buddy burner:
Make an emergency disaster plan – take a look at my guide to easily make an emergency disaster plan TODAY!
Get a flashlight – any ol’ flashlight or headlamp will do. I like these cheap headlamps right here.
Take notes – make lists and take notes. Getting your ideas and aspirations out onto paper is a huge relief. You now have everything right there in front of you and can easily organize and access. Write down everything from goals to skills you’d like to learn or practice to how often you’d like to workout and everything in between.
Camp in your backyard – you don’t even have to leave your home to get the tent setup and enjoy some fun family time! Plus you get to test out some gear and make s’mores.
Make a fire – Speaking of s’mores, make a fire! Whether you have a fire pit in the background or you need to go to a local park and use one of their fire pits, this is a great skill to practice.
Make your own hygiene products – some of these may require some special ingredients, but overall, with just a few supplies, you can make a lot of your own hygiene products. It becomes addicting knowing you can do it yourself! Take a look at my post about 8 hygiene products I make myself.
Inventory – while inventorying isn’t a whole lot of fun, I found that the Prepper Nerd inventory system makes it fun again! I used to just write it down on paper or in an excel sheet, but I didn’t keep up with it. The Prepper Nerd system made it really simple and gave me visual references to what I had and even told me when I was low on something or when I was nearing best buy dates (just for reference, not that I may much attention to best buy dates).
Make a bug out bag from items you find around your house – this is a really fun thing to do. No matter where you are with your preparedness, grab any ol’ bag, even a cloth grocery bag. Walk around your house and grab whatever you see that could be useful in an emergency evacuation situation.
Be situationally aware – I have an entire blog post that talks about situational awareness and how we can apply it to our everyday lives. Check it out!
Listen/read intel – we don’t have to be sucked into the fear mongering that the news can create, but that doesn’t mean we should be ignorant either. Knowing what’s going on in the world can make us better preppers. We can see what’s happening and prep accordingly. Go find some favorite news channels and stick with those as your news sources. Don’t give into fear mongering, just be aware of what’s going on.
Make something from canned foods – cooking with your food preps is an essential part of preparedness. Get familiar with your food by cooking with it! Pick one canned food item and think up some ideas that it could be used for, then get to cooking!
Eat some dandelions (or another wild edible) – find a wild edible book for YOUR specific area. Then start searching for some wild edibles. Be sure you’re positiviely identifying them before consuming or using any wild edibles.
Download preparedness apps – some apps I have would be Topo Maps, Quake Feed, First Aid reference apps and more. Lots of great apps out there for fun or education.
Read a map – learn how to read a map and a compass. It takes time so do it often! It’s a lot of fun and not as hard as it seems. We’ve all become so used to Google Maps and other GPS map services that we have forgotten the fine art of reading a good ol’ paper map.
Start a container/herb garden – this is easy because you don’t have to start big. Just grab one packet of seeds, one container and get to planting!
Increase home and personal security – take a walk around the inside and outside of your home. Notate anything that could be a security risk like easy access to windows, windows or doors not being secured or locked, dark places, places people might be able to hide, etc. Then make a list of how to improve them,
Go for a walk – day or night, just get out for a 30 min walk!
Some of these tasks may seem really easy and probably not very ‘tacticool’, but the point of these tasks is to help you to understand that preparedness is a lot easier than you might think. While there might be some investment of time or money into preparedness (just like with everything in life), it doesn’t need to overtake your life; it’s apart of it.
No matter how “small”, everything you do is a step forward.
You got this!