In a recent post entitled: “Designing Your Life,” I (guest)wrote on the topic of designing a fulfilling life and career. Clearly, I need to remind myself of my own drivel advice. My life, manifested by the current state of my daily commuter bag, is OUT – OF – CONTROL! Please enjoy Designing Your… Backpack? or how I identified and resolved a messy backpack situation.
Not liking what I saw, I squinted at my “man bag.”* Like a goofy, googly-eyed cookie monster, the bag gaped back. Instead of crumbs, miscellaneous pens, loose change and electronic device chargers spilled out of its yawning, zippered mouth.
“How the heck did this happen?” I muttered to myself, digging deeply for something necessary.
I resolve to right this ship.
And, in true overkill fashion, I won’t be satisfied with just my “man bag.”
We need a full overhaul. A reset. A paradigm shift.
This year I will enter a new age, defined by shoulder storage preparedness.
I will carry fewer things, while accomplishing more.
I will be lighter, more nimble and ready for action at a moment’s notice. This will be applied to both daily routines and for weekend adventuring. I will be more prepared for an emergency, if one unfortunately arises.
Simplification and mindful optimization, to drill down to the essential is my intent.
What do I really need to lug around?
Anything?
Let’s find out!
*It’s a man bag, OK? Not a European shoulder bag. Not a purse. It’s a man bag.
Oh, No! I’ve Got a Ton of Stuff
Now, how did that happen? I thought I was good at not acquiring things.
Was I kidding myself? Do I actually suck at this? Did I ever really want this to begin with? Is my minimalism sustainable? Am I following a fad? Is complication with the passage of time inevitable?
Whoa, whoa, chill out!
It’s gonna be rad. Let’s just see what we’re rocking with and maybe we can cull and organize.
Inventory
So, first things first. I dumped everything out on a table.
The inventory:
- 1x journal
- 1x leather pen holder strap
- 1x pen
- 1x mini journal
- 1x address book
- 1x library pass
- 1x watch
- 1x pink highlighter
- 2x eye glass wiper
- 1x knife carabiner multi-tool
- 1x Craftsman multi-tool
- 1x rubber ball hand/foot massager
- 3x charger blocks
- 1x car port light
- 1x money clip ($0)
- 2x keys to P.O. Box
- 1x 4-way split charger
- 1x travel size sunscreen
- 1x SD card (contents unknown)
- 1x mini SD card (contents unknown)
- 1x Gold Bond foot powder
- Stack of cards – business, credit, old I.D.’s
- 1x mini lighter
- 1x allergy medicine
- 1x plastic clip
- 2x paperclip
- 1x breath mints
- 1x pair of dirty dress socks
- papers – B.J.’s grocery list, two letters, 2020 muscle cars calendar (gift from pops), Valley Advocate (yay western mass!)
- $0.66 change
- $0.03 more change (after a flip and pat on the rump)
Oh my! I’m carrying over 30 different types of things. Eeek! Must they all be important enough to physically haul around on my shoulder? I imagine not.
Existing Luggage
Man Bag
- Christmas gift from M in 2018. This is my daily office bag. It’s got my “… ahhhhh, you know, papers. Business papers.”
Camera Bag
- It’s camo, which immediately makes it manlier. I use this small backpack primarily on weekends, maybe I’ll grab it if I’m on the bike. The backpack is really a case for my camera first. It has a few other compartments and plays nicely with a tablet, so it makes for a manageable all-purpose weekend bag, but can’t hold too much.
Commuter Bag
- Henty backpack commuter backpack. This was my go-to everyday bag when I biked to work. It’s a clever solution for bike commuters who need to change into something business-y, or if you just don’t want a wrinkled mess.
Hiking Bag
- Standard mid-sized hiking pack. I use this for longer duration (5+ days) trips out of state. I’d like to use it in the future for actual backpacking, but as I’ve mentioned in the past, most of our camping trips are fairly tame weekend adventures. Maybe we’ll get more adventurous in the future.
Gym Bag
- It’s bright neon yellow. I think I bought this for $20 a handful of years ago. Honestly, it’s disgusting. Visually abhorrent enough to facilitate some type of visceral reaction and smelling like a yeti, it’s well past jettison time.
Weekend Bag
- It’s less ugly, but still a gym bag. I use it as an overnight bag now primarily. Maybe I could employ its services elsewhere.
Optimization
The exercise proved fruitful. I shed over a dozen items by storing them at home, while re-positioning an additional half dozen objects to my weekend use camera-pack. Minus some book and paper weight and we’re back to lean and mean. These are good things.
I threw out the neon yellow gym bag. (M is giving a standing ovation)
My grey gym bag will now serve double duties: a gym bag weekdays and an overnight bag for weekend trips.
Conclusion
So, what did we learn from designing your backpack? Things tend to cling. Periodic self check-ins to reassess and shed the non-essential reduces distraction, while promoting focus. Properly equipped, encumbrances melt, action follows.
