The Lazy Genius Podcast - #165 - The Lazy Genius Packs for a Trip

Episode Date: July 6, 2020

Vacations definitely look different this summer than they usually do, but trips aren’t just vacations. You’ll go see grandma, you might travel a state or two over when the holidays come soon. Basically, we’ll have trips long after this pandemic is over, and I get a lot of questions about doing a packing episode, so here you go. Stuff Mentioned Haven’t preordered The Lazy Genius Way yet? You can do that right here and claim your bonuses! My bonus episode with Courtney Cleveland from All the Best Days on Lazy Geniusing staycations. You can get her packing list here. There are only a few more days to join the book launch team! If you haven’t applied yet, you can do so here! Download a transcript of this episode. This podcast is hosted by Kendra Adachi and executive produced by Kendra Adachi, Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Okay, so today is a very exciting episode. The Lazy Genius packs for a trip. Okay, vacations definitely look different this summer than they usually do, but trips are not just vacations, right? You'll go see Grandma. You might travel a state or two over when the holidays come soon. Maybe you're trying to do day trips during the summer. basically we will have trips long after this pandemic is over and I get a lot of questions about doing a packing episode so here you go come back and listen before you go on your trips so first

about packing we're going to do what I call a priority stack I think that there are three main priorities that people have when packing being prepared packing light and then being able to find everything now we all mostly want all three of those But if we just like pack loosey-goosey thinking equally of all three priorities, we won't really prioritize any of them, at least not in an efficient way. And that's why I love priority stacks. A priority stack is simply putting a small number of priorities into the order that makes the most sense for you. So for packing, stack them from most important to least important. And then you can have a more clear picture of how to pack of what matters most.

one of the principles in my book, the lazy genius way, is to go in the right order. This is a great example of putting that principle into practice. You need to stack your priorities and put them in the right order. So you'll put your energy where it has the greatest impact on what matters to you. So if my math is right, there are six possible priority stacks with these three options. Right. Our three options, again, are packing light, finding stuff, and being prepared. Now, I would like to assign one word to each of these three priorities so that you can know tangibly

how to apply them to packing. And just for fun, they all start with a letter B. So if you're packing light, your focus will be bags. The bags are limited, right? Nothing else matters as long as stuff fits in the smallest number of bags that you decide ahead of time. Now finding stuff, let's use the word bucket. The idea of the bucket is that you are collecting the same kind of thing into one bucket or one container or one category. The easiest way to find stuff is when the same kinds of things are together. It's the same idea as packing to move. If you label a bunch of boxes miscellaneous or stuff or random or junk drawer, you'll never find anything. And the same is true of packing for a trip if you want to find stuff. So think about buckets. Group, like.

items or like categories or like humans together in one bucket and then move on to the next bucket. We'll talk about what to do with those buckets in a second. And I know you know I don't mean like literal buckets, right? These are metaphorical buckets. You're not filling your van with like big paint buckets. Okay. The third priority is to be prepared. And that B word is, anyone else just think of Knox McCoy just then, the B word? The third B word is blueprint. you're trying to imagine the entire potential framework of your trip, the whole blueprint, walking through the details like an architect, trying to keep a building from falling down. So you're thinking through everything, every scenario, and making lists of what you'll need

for those scenarios. Okay, so that's bags for packing light, buckets for finding stuff, and blueprints for being prepared. Got it? Okay. Now let's walk through three different priority stats. to help you get an idea of how to pack for your next trip based on what matters to you. The stacks are listed from most important to least important.

And the first stack we'll break down is packing light. That's the most important thing. Packing light. Being prepared and finding stuff. That's our order. Packing light, be prepared, find your stuff. So here's our order of priority with our B words. Bags, blueprint, buckets.

Bags, blueprint, buckets. your main thing is to go ahead and limit your bags. That's your first step. Choose what bags you're bringing. Choose how much space you're taking up in the car or the van or on your back, right? The idea here is that you have to start with your bags if packing light is your top priority. If it doesn't fit in a bag, it doesn't come. That's the rule. I think about Tish Oxen Rider with this. Remember when her whole family took a trip around the world a couple years ago? Her book, what's that book? At Home in the world, oh, that book is so good. And it kind of tells the story of that. Everyone had a backpack, and that was it, like a camping pack. That was the number one priority, which affected how they packed,

because the bag and the space it takes up matters the most. Okay. Now, if your next stack is to be prepared or have the blueprint of your trip, you will think through absolute essentials for each scenario. You will put in the time and the effort and the money to research and buy versatile shoes and rain jackets that fit in your pocket and all kinds of things that can do double duty. You'll think about shirts that dry quickly or that wick away sweat so you're prepared for multiple kinds of weather. You'll skip the umbrella in favor of the rain jacket that has a hood. You're still prepared for rain, but you're considering your bag and the space before you're considering your Trips blueprint. The final priority in this particular stack is to be able to find everything,

but this sort of takes care of itself in a lot of ways, right? Creating buckets of categories is the most helpful when you have a lot of stuff. But if you're focusing on packing light and on your limited bags, especially if everybody just has like one bag themselves, you will already most likely be able to find what you need because things are more or less already categorized and there are just fewer places to look. So if that's your priority stack, that's your strategy and packing. One day, you're negotiating with suppliers. The next, you're installing a shelf in the back room.

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This is the order. Blueprint for being prepared, then buckets for being able to find everything, and finally the bags or packing light. So here we're going to start with a blueprint. You start with what makes each day of your trip a good day. Because really that's what prep is all about, isn't it? It's about having a good day. It's about not letting a bump in the road throw everybody off because you're, you know, not prepared for it. So you start with thinking through the day and what will make it work depending on the scenarios you encounter. Write stuff down, you know? Think all the path diversions and write them down. What will you need? Because again, that's your top priority. Being prepared is your highest priority. Now next is the bucket. You want to be able to find everything,

especially since you're bringing a lot of stuff and if you want to access stuff that you're going to need for whatever the scenario is. This is where you categorize. You can categorize by day of the trip, by the event, by, you know, by the person, by whatever you want. So like, maybe you have a rain, a rainy weather bucket, a beach bucket, a pit stop bucket, a mist plain bucket, a bucket for each of your kids, a bedtime bucket, whatever you want. So you put all of those things that you want to bring in order to be prepared into metaphorical buckets so you can find everything when you need it. And then the final part is bags. Do you care about packing light? Not really. So every bucket gets a bag. You will pack as many bags as are necessary.

to hold the buckets that are preparing you for anything. Make sense? So the final priority stack is my personal choice. It goes buckets first because I love a good category and I really, really like being able to find things quickly. Bags next because I like essentializing or packing. It doesn't have to be like the lightest thing ever, but I don't want to take more than we need. And then finally the blueprint. I do like being prepared, but I figure that we can be prepared for the essentials and then figure out the other stuff when we need it, if we need it. So here, simple specific categories are greater than space saving or cramming things into as few bags as possible. Okay. I hope you caught my bonus episode with Courtney Cleveland from all the best days, but I subscribe to the Courtney Cleveland method of packing

where everyone gets a bag. I didn't know that I packed like her, but I do and it made me very happy when I heard her talk about it. Every person gets a bag. Okay, for their clothes. Now, all the shoes, everybody's shoes, it goes in its own bucket. It goes, it's in its own bag. If we're going to the beach, all the beach stuff goes in one one bucket. Everything gets categorized and bucketed. That's the first thing. And then I have as many bags as there are categories. Now, here's the thing. You might be thinking like, well, wait, wouldn't that make packing light your least important category? Because packing light is supposed to be second. And that's a good question, but no.

Because not every category makes the cut or is as big as it would like to be. For example, we took a beach trip recently. And I at first had like a huge metaphorical bucket slash stack on my kitchen table of like games and puzzles and all kinds of fun things. It was sort of like the play bucket. But then I realized that I would rather have space in the car, unless to take in and out of the car and worry about in the beach house, than to be prepared with every entertainment possibility imaginable. If it rains the entire week, we'll play the games we have for as long as we can. And if we need to run out to a drugstore and get a new puzzle or some bouncy balls or whatever to pass the time, then we will.

But I'm not going to pack that category as aggressively and like preparedly, as I might have if space was less of a priority. But because space is the second priority, I'm going to sacrifice the size of the bucket in order to get it taking up less space. So, okay, so hopefully you see that these priority stacks, they just help you name what matters so that you can make the best decisions for yourself.

You don't really need, hear me, hear me, hear me. You don't really need another packing list. You need a packing approach. And the priority stack, it helps you figure that out. Now, if you want to Google packing list and cross-reference it with your priorities, by all means do that. You might see something that reminds you of what you had forgotten. But ultimately, you don't need a packing list.

You need a packing approach. If you want one that's already built, I will put a link in the show notes to Courtney Cleveland's packing list, even though, again, it's not really a packing list. It's more of a bucket list, really. There are items listed, like suggested items listed for each bucket. But the point is really to show you what you could put in each bucket that then gets its own bag so you can travel well with what you need but still be able to find it all. And that's how a lazy genius packs for a trip.

No IG live this week. But if you have thoughts or questions, you can put them in the comments of this post on the website at the lazygeeniescollective.com slash lazy slash. Thank you so much for listening. And applications are open for just two more days for the book launch team for the lazy genius way. If you're interested, the link is in the show notes. I appreciate your being here today for trusting me with your time.

And I hope that you feel encouraged about packing for your next trip. Until next time, be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't. I'm Kendra, and I'll see you next week. You ever felt like you were living just a B or B plus life? It's so dangerous to live that. More dangerous than a B minus or a C plus life? because when you're living a B or B plus life, you don't change it. You think it's good enough.

Is it? I'm Susie Welch. I host a podcast called Becoming You. People think, okay, an A plus life is not available to me, but there is a way. We are all in the process of becoming ourselves. Listen to Becoming You wherever you get your podcasts.