#virtualpacking

  As someone who has spent a lot of time in transit, and somehow still do even though I am on a local project, I've learned to make good use of every down moment that I have. For example, I no longer answer most personal emails during the day. I save them for my commute on the bus to and from work.

About a year ago however, I was faced with a pretty unique challenge. I knew I would be travelling Monday-Thursday on client site and leaving for an 8 day trip to Europe the following Friday afternoon. I couldn't pack all my clothes with me as I was travelling for business and I could only lay out so many things in advance as I needed them during the week. 

As a result, I created the concept of Virtual Packing. It's easy and highly effective. Below are my 6 steps for literally packing on the go!

Step 1: Prior to travelling, take time to lay out the clothes/accessories/shoes/etc that you would like to bring. Of course this won't be everything but try to think of the essentials. I found it helpful to not even think about packing too much...just laying out what I would like.

Step 2: Take some photos. Take a photo of your pants, your shirts, your shoes. 

You're done! ...For now. 

Step 3: When you find yourself with a spare moment, or in transit to another location (I did this on my plane to the client site and evenings at the hotel) take out a pen/paper, or open up a doc on your computer and start to catalog the photos your took in a way that makes sense to you.

I did it by clothing type (e.g. shirt, shoes, outerwear) but you may prefer something like daytime, beach day, Wednesday outfit, etc.

Step 4: Start to pare down what you'll really need. Do you really want to pack 4 hoodies and only one pair of pants? Did you forget that you also wanted to pack your favorite sunglasses? At this stage I like to plan by day and outfit. The benefit of virtually packing is that you can do a little bit at a time or all at once, depending on your schedule. 

Step 5: Consolidate your list and add other essentials. I'm personally quite forgetful so I'll add things like toothbrush, socks, Drivers licence to my list. I also take this time to think about whether I'm missing any items that I can pick up during the week. For example, if I can grab deodorant on my way to the hotel from work, that will save me at least 30 minutes when I'm back home. 

Pfewf, that was a lot of work, take a break!

Step 6: Now that you find yourself with only hours to pack you know EXACTLY what you need to pack and can feel confident that you've got everything you need.