How Do I Organize My Bag?

If aching shoulders, broken straps, and never being able to find your keys are common occurrences with your handbag or work bag, it may be too heavy or too cluttered to use. Among the many ways to debulk and organize your handbag, the use of pouches is one of the simplest solutions. 

 

During our design process, we deliberately chose to add helpful features like water-resistant lining to our pouches to answer the many ways we personally use them for everything from travel to parenthood. Discover how you can use pouches in a variety of sizes and materials to easily divide essentials and make any bag more functional.

 

Outside of a pocket filled work bag like a briefcase, purposeful travel bag, or even a more modestly-compartmented satchel purse, large bag lovers could try purse organizer inserts or dividers to create sections and more pockets. However, many inserts are designed to fit a specific bag or collections of bags. This limits your options on where and how you can use an insert. With pouches you can easily move a collection from one bag to another without worrying about the fit.

 

We have identified three key steps to using pouches to organize your bag in any scenario and are sharing the solutions to some common concerns of pouch use.

Step #1: Practice A Moment of Mindfulness

The first step to organizing your bag is an exercise in mindfulness. You need to admit that you don’t need to carry everything in your bag. The most notable feature of large satchels, backpacks, duffles or suitcases, work bags, and tote bags is the big empty space. It is tempting to want to fill that space with everything you could possibly need or want during the day but resist that line of thinking.

Step #2: Select Your Most Frequently Used Items

Next, focus on choosing the items that are most frequently used. It is not enough to choose useful items. Every item is useful or serves a purpose, even if it’s only a decorative piece. Frequency separates what items you should carry on you versus what items are convenient should you need them.

Step #3: Choose Your Pouch Size & Type

There are many types of pouches in different sizes and with different closures like snaps, zippers, drawstrings, or folding flaps. Based on the size of your frequently used items and their features, you can choose the right type of carry-all pouch.

 

Grouping the items you want to include in your bag by similar features or purpose can help you decide what size pouch you need. Choose your pouch size based on your largest item in that collection so it fits comfortably.

 

Small pouches like our Round Drawstring Pouch can be used to hold coins, dainty jewelry or rings, short tubes of lipstick or lip gloss, and even earbuds. Use medium pouches to hold coupons, larger cosmetics like eyeliner or concealer, colognes and other toiletries, or tech cords. Large pouches are sometimes big enough in size to hold your iPad tablet or a standard sheet of paper without folding it. You can also use large pouches for items like diapers, snacks for eager toddlers, or to keep your socks in one place during a vacation.

 

Some pouches are designed with specific items in mind. If you are catching a flight with a carry-on bag, you are going to want to comply with the TSA rules for liquids. This means the pouch must be clear and hold no more than a quart of liquids by volume. For checked bags or daily routine, cosmetic pouches like our Medium Accessories Pouch lined with water-resistant or spillproof materials to prevent messes make excellent bag organizers.

 

For work bags or school backpacks, nothing is more annoying than not being able to find something write with, breaking a pen or pencil, or accidentally poking yourself in the hand with a writing utensil. In those cases, we recommend investing in pen or pencil cases, like our water-resistant lined Pencil Case.

 

Increasingly, we use more and more technology in our everyday lives. Keep the accompanying power cords untangled and tech accessories together with pouches designed to organize tech devices. Our Large Tech Bag Organizer features convenient elastic loops on the bottom panel to hold cords and adapters or storage devices in place and a mesh zippered pocket on the lid for easy viewing.

 

Pouches also allow you to be discreet. Popularly used to turn a tote bag into a diaper bag, we offer our Bag Insert as a tote organizer insert for our Large Zippered Downtown Tote. However, if you need to pull off a quick diaper change in a public place like a restaurant without bringing your whole handbag with you, then use a large pouch to conveniently carry wet wipes, diapers, and a small changing pad to the restroom. This idea is also subtle enough for taking feminine hygiene products to the bathroom as well.

The Drawbacks of Using Pouches & How to Overcome Them

There are some caveats to using pouches to organize your bag. The often-opaque designs don’t allow you to see into the pouches if you don’t remember what items you put in there. An easy solution to this drawback is to choose different pouch colors for different collections. An example would be using a pink pouch for your makeup and a green pouch for coupons and branded discount membership cards to represent the money you save. All of our pouches can be personalized and have a higher character count, up to 10 characters in some cases, so you can effectively “label” for different categories of items.

 

The other main issue is overstuffing your bag with pouches. You don’t need 10 pouches piled on top of one another in your bag. If you find yourself needing 10 pouches, then you should reassess what you are carrying. Consider the purpose of your bag overall and where you are going. If the items are not helpful towards the bag’s purpose or occasion, then it can be removed.

 

Once you determine what you want to use each pouch for, don’t add things from other collections. Travel pouches should not include coupons and cards for your local grocery store. Keep diapers out of your makeup pouch. Maintaining that categorization will help you stay organized, simplifying your daily routine, and reducing confusion and frustration about an item’s location.

 

Regardless of how you decide to divide your items, options like our personalized leather pouches offer the simplest solution to organizing your bag and will reduce broken straps, ease the strain on your shoulder and back, and make your life more efficient.