Tuesday Tip: Carry Less, and Stay Organized On-the-Go

By Yehudit Garmaise

Do you feel like you carry your whole office in your pockets? 

Instead of rummaging through your belongings throughout the day to find your phone, wallet, keys, and important papers for work, now is the time to create a new, pared-down, and organized system to set you up for success.

Not only will you look leaner without so many things and papers stuffed in your pockets, but you will also feel lighter and less stressed as you walk when you aren’t burdened with what should be filed or tossed.

To consider everything you are carrying and what you actually need, when you come home tonight, empty all of your pockets onto a cleared-off, clean table.

Try to repeat this process as often as possible: from every night to once a month. Just don’t save it for your Pesach cleaning if you want to get organized.

“I once saw someone give a dollar to Rav Meir Baal Hanes to be able to find something in his pocket,” says Boro Park journalist Yochonon Donn. “I am not far behind. I try to organize myself every once in a while, but my pockets quickly turn into a quagmire.”

While time and patience for personal organization are short, by taking a just few minutes each day, week, or even month to sort through everything, people can pare down what they carry with them every day and find what they need in a snap.

Consider the following steps:

1. First, put aside what you consider to be the essentials you need every day: keys, wallet, and phone.

2. Throw away any garbage. Try to get in the habit of throwing away garbage right away.

3. Put other items into different piles: cash, coins, bills, to-do lists, bank statements, parking tickets, scribbled-down notes, and any work-oriented information. Every day, remove your change and place it in a pushka or cans that serve as money receptacles to be used for parking meters, laundry, or savings.

4. If you are often losing your to-do lists and grocery lists, tomorrow, try putting all your lists in the Notes app on your phone. If you must keep writing things down, choose just one small notebook to keep with you in the same pocket every day so you can go back and easily read what you jotted down.

5. At the end of the day, take out your small to-do list and cross off what you did. Then, copy onto a fresh piece of paper what was left undone and add the day's new tasks. Make sure to tear off and throw away the previous day’s list every day to get that out of the way.

6. If you have parking tickets, stop what you are doing and pay them. Unpaid parking tickets can create dread and anxiety, but you will forget about them as soon as you send off the checks. If you don’t have the money yet, store the parking tickets in an envelope holder and pay them off as soon as you get paid.

7. Take everything out of your wallet and consider what might be able to be thrown away. Toss old coupons, receipts, and other outdated things so your wallet looks leaner and flatter.

8. Create a regular system so you always know where to reach for what you need.

9. Choose one permanent pocket (right or left, front or back) each for your wallet, keys, and phone so you know where to find each when you need them.

10. Maintain your system by emptying your pockets as often as possible, paying parking tickets immediately, taking notes only in one small notebook, and storing necessary work information on your phone or laptop.