One of my favorite lifehacks is to own a multipurpose backpack (The North Face Borealis) that I keep packed and ready to go.
Instead of having to fumble around for stuff every time I need to travel or leave the house to make sure I have everything I need, I just keep my bag stocked and ready. This applies to my travel cosmetic bag too. It means I have to own two copies of certain items, but it saves a ton of time and worry.
My Backpack
- Macbook Pro 16 inch
- Macbook power supply and chord
- iPad Pro 12.9″
- Two pens (one multicolor)
- Small notebook
- USB pen drive with attached USB-C adaptor
- Smartphone/Kindle holder
- Credit card wallet
- Hand cream (Cicaplast or L’Occitane)
- Raw Bite energy bar
- Pair of lenses
- Packet of tissues
- W5 wipes for glasses
- Hand sanitizer
- QCY wireless earbuds (I own several pairs of these as they are quite cheap, and just leave a pair of each in different places for convenience)
- Airpods Pro with Airtag
- Rode microphones (in case I want to interview someone)
- Round band-aids (in case I have any sores while walking; sometimes one of my toes gets a bit bruised during padel matches)
The great thing about working with the Macbook and the iPad is that I can easily have a dual monitor setup even when working in cafes or coworking spaces. That makes it excellent for productivity as I like working with dual monitor setups. All I need is a cable and the new Sidecar functionality on MacOS Catalina. Alternatively, there is the Duet app which works very well for me too.
