Lighten the shoulder bag

For women and men alike, pocketbooks and shoulder bags have a way of becoming heavy black holes. I try to keep my work bag contents down to what I consider my essentials:

• The lightest and most compact umbrella I can find
• Small Moleskine notebook and 1-2 pens
• Small packet of tissues
• Wallet
• Cell phone
• Keys
• Compact
• Lip balm
• Lip gloss
• Blotting wipes
• Half-dollar sized compact containing concealer
• Tide pen
• Work ID badge
• Business card case
• Gum/mints
• Hand sanitizer

To this perpetual list, I’ll add whatever is needed for a particular day (sweater, book, magazine, sunglasses, etc.).

Once every couple of weeks, while on the commuter train, the subway, dead-stopped traffic, or the shuttle that takes me to and from different buildings at work, I’ll do the following:

• Remove old papers and gum wrappers from my bag.
• Check for the number of pens/pencils in my bag. Two is my max. Extras go back into my desk at work or home.
• Leaf through my wallet. Heavy amounts of change? That’s going in the change jar at home later. Expired/unimportant receipts? Trash.
• See if anything else is unnecessarily weighing me down, and take those items home or back to the office.

What are your work bag essentials? What’s in your bag now that you can get rid of?

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Hello, there! I’m thrilled that you’ve discovered Simplified by Sarah.

I’m not a professional organizer. I’m a busy 30-something married woman with a full-time career and varied interests that keep me on the go. I’m buoyed by quick lists, multitasking, easy organizing methods and decluttering. I make it easy to keep everything in its proper place without being too proper about it!

If you’ve got a lot going on at home, work, or school—or all of the above—welcome. You’ll get practical, simple tips on keeping it all together.

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• and much more.