Purses and backpacks are amazing for when you are on the go (especially since women’s pants do not have large enough pockets, but I digress). As convenient as they are, they can become a dumping ground for miscellany, and if not cleared out regularly it can become a disorganized nightmare! Let’s get started.
1. Start Fresh. Take everything out, dump it on your table, and check every pocket. You might want to vacuum it a bit, or take a clean cloth to some areas – purses can get quite dusty! Take note of what you’re finding, and maybe even physically write down what you’re finding to create an “inventory” of sorts. Having it all revealed to you will help to realize your habits and allow you to come up with solutions! If you’re finding a lot of wrappers and trash, think about where those wrappers could have been tossed instead of your purse (public trash can, trash can at home, car trash bag etc). If you’re finding a lot of receipts, and they are not ones you need to keep for tax reasons, why not create a new habit of refusing a receipt at the store? The cashier can toss it right there, and you don’t have to take the clutter with you. Plus the BPA content in thermal receipts is enough to make you want to avoid them anyway (read about that here)! Did you know how to identify thermal receipts from paper ones? Scratch it with your fingernail, and if a black mark shows up, it is a thermal receipt. These ones are not recyclable because they contain many chemicals, including BPA. The more you know!
2. Categorize/Organize. Now that you’ve identified what is in your purse, you need to decide what you actually need to keep in there. And remember, the more you carry, the heavier the purse will be! Some essentials I carry in my Lug purse: Cloud Rabbit wallet, keys, lip balm, portable charger, Mersio sunglasses, business cards, mints, pen, hair elastic, sewing tape measure, a Chico Bag, Patch bandages, sanitizer/mask, hand lotion and wireless Marley headphones. I keep these things in all the time, and then add more as needed, depending on where I’m going. What are your essentials? Keep what fits with your lifestyle, and what you will need when you’re out and about. I find it easier to decide on the very obvious things first, see how those fit, and then decide on extra items.
3. Designate Homes for Items. Once you’ve decided what you’re keeping in your purse, it helps to assign “homes” for where those items will go. I like a purse with a lot of pockets, but if your purse has just one main pocket you can store smaller items in cosmetic bags or use a purse organizer to keep things handy. By keeping items in a specific place they will be easier to find and to put away afterwards. I like to keep my lip balm in my front pocket because it’s a shallow pocket (so it won’t get lost), and is also very handy being right at the front. Because keys are one of those things that get lost in the bottom of a purse, I use this handy hook from Lee Valley to clip them on an inside lip of my purse. I think my goal when storing things in my purse is to know innately where everything is so I could find things even in the dark!
4. Keep it Clear. You want to stay on top of having your purse be clean and tidy! So now you need to create new habits. This may take some time for it to become intuitive, and that’s ok – be patient with yourself! My habit is whenever I come home from a trip, whether it be to the grocery store or out of town, I immediately take the extra bits out of my purse. I think this maybe takes me 30 seconds, because the things that don’t belong are obvious (they don’t have a home!). If after every trip isn’t going to work for you, put a reminder in your phone or calendar to clean out your purse once a week. You don’t have dump everything out during these sessions, just take out the obvious things that don’t belong. It will go faster and easier the more often you do it!
