Get Out of the House Faster in the Morning With a “bag Zone”
There are levels for organizing your wallet and bag. You should organize where you store your bags , declutter the insides of your bags , and even use your already packed bags to organize other things in your home. But you should also organize the things that regularly end up in your bag. By doing this, you’ll get out of the house faster and save your organization as a whole.
Create a “bag zone”
This idea came to me from social media (because of course I did). I saw a video from home organizer and stylist Anna Page . In it, she explained that she had dedicated a “purse station” that would store all the items she typically puts in her purse when she leaves the house. She now uses beautiful antique furniture for storage, but even a drawer or tray by the front door will do the job.
The video got me thinking about how annoying I get when I change bags, which I unfortunately do every single day. I have to take everything I take on the road out of the bag I was using and put it in a new one. Typically this includes my wallet, passport, keys, small makeup bag, phone charger, pen, computer, computer charger, Apple Watch charger, extra contact lenses, eye drops, spare glasses. , lip balm, clear lip gloss, headphones, gum, hand sanitizer, hand lotion, mini perfume, face sunscreen… and that’s not to mention the everyday things I take with me, e.g. , any lipstick I wear, foldable flats, sunglasses I wear, any documents or little things I need during the day, and really, God knows what else. Since most of these items—contact lenses, hand sanitizer—remain the same from day to day, it means I’m constantly moving them from bag to bag.
I usually leave them in whatever bag they’re in when I get home and then move them around right before I head out the door. I can’t tell you how many times this haphazard approach has resulted in me being blindsided for not having spare contacts, being denied entry somewhere for not having the correct ID, or simply being annoyed when I didn’t have hand lotion. . Page’s method of putting all of these essentials in one organized place every day solves the problem. When you get home, you take everything out of your bag and put it in the bag area you created, taking out anything that was disposable packaging, like a specific lipstick or document, and putting it somewhere else. This will keep everything together and will also immediately empty the bag you’ve been using, meaning you can also put it back where it belongs without the risk of accidentally packing your belongings into it.
Tips for the “bag zone”
As with any approach to decluttering and organization, make sure the inside of the drawer or tray you choose is always well organized. To do this, create mounds or create small bounded sections within an area and sort similar items within those sections . Consider using small containers to keep your bag area organized, ideally ones that you can grab and toss into your bag on the way out if needed.
Obviously, you may have different everyday items than I do, but when it comes to bag space, think about what you might need on any given day. For example, you should have an umbrella, even if you don’t take it out every morning. If you have several bags that you use at different times, such as a diaper bag, school bag, purse, create separate areas for them.
Make a commitment to unpack your bag every time you get home so that it becomes second nature and you always know exactly where your essentials are. Put the bag away once it is unpacked. This approach will also eliminate confusion about the location of a certain item, such as your house keys, because it means they won’t be in some random bag, but exactly where they should be.