Sometimes the satisfactory new thoughts aren’t surely new ideas in any respect. They’re more like the new software of an antique idea.
Case in point: 12 months in the past, I wrote about a simple trick my uncle taught me to avoid forgetting important matters.
It came up while we went sailing on his boat in Rhode Island. As we got here again to the harbor and tied up, he informed me about the remaining two steps he always takes at the give up of a cruise.
First, he takes out his telephone and takes a photograph of the boat engine ignition inside the “off” position.
Then, he’s taking a 2nd picture of the knot he used to tie the boat to the buoy.
As he informed me remaining year:
“This is so when you wake up at 2 a.M., Wondering, ‘Did I tie up the boat effectively?’ you don’t should drive an hour returned to the dock to discover.”
Mind. Completely. Blown.
I imply, I neglect matters all of the time. It’s been a challenge in my complete existence.
So, for the past 12 months, at my uncle’s implicit suggestion, I’ve been taking reminder pix of everything.
Now, I’ve to stumble upon a good greater useful application, particularly for whilst you’re packing and journeying.
The ultimate packing hack
Here’s how it works. Again, it’s so easy that I’m afraid I have to disagree with I haven’t been doing this my entire lifestyle -; or as a minimum for the 15 years or so I’ve had a phone with a digicam.
The problem we’re solving here is that nagging feeling you get while rushing to get out the door or hurrying via an airport, seeking to recollect whether or not you packed something important.
It’s hard enough when you’re going someplace by way of yourself. It’s even greater of an undertaking while you’re packing a whole circle of relatives for every week-long go for a holiday at the beach.
So, what I’ve discovered to do, way to my uncle, is to take image after picture after picture of my luggage as I’m packing.
It all finishes up searching for something like this:
a hundred images, no problem
I did it a final weekend, as my family and I left for a week at Cape Cod.
However, imagine the one’s pics, repeated time and over for every of approximately 25 baggage and programs loaded up inside the again of my Honda CR-V.
Yes, you may, without problems, wind up with a hundred photographs for your phone. But so what?
You shop a lot of time and drama afterward when you’re trying to don’t forget if you packed enough sunscreen — otherwise to do not forget which bag to look in to discover the child’s should-have middle-of-the-night stuffed animal.
It also works for commercial enterprise travel, when you sit up in a panic for your flight, seeking to keep in mind if you packed your get dressed shoes — or if you will need to visit that meeting whilst you land within the Nikes you wore at the plane.
He also works for home remodeling.
I saw my uncle again during our current excursion, and I found out I shouldn’t keep this new utility of his antique idea to myself.
So, I must additionally share a more robust model of this packing hack — from while we made over one of the rooms in our house earlier this 12 months.
This required packing approximately 15 boxes really worth of gadgets and knick-knacks into our attic. I shot snapshots of each container as I loaded it, then drew a range of with a massive Sharpie on every one of them, 1 thru 15, and took a picture of the numbers, too.
Everything becomes about 100 instances simpler to find simply by way of looking at my phone.
Brilliantly simple
I recognize that when you get proper right down to this, it’s all a depend of documenting your existence — something lots of us are doing besides.
It’s a straightforward hack and one which takes mere seconds. But for me, it has been splendid.
And that is the factor. You’re almost genuinely strolling around almost a hundred percent of the time with a camera for your pocket. It really is way greater effective than something that existed even just a few years ago.
Use it. And then, use the part of your mind that you unfastened up for matters that are an awful lot more essential.
