134: Quick Tip Tuesday – The Best Purse for Your ADHD Brain & How to Organize It!

Quick Tip: The Crossbody Purse and the Three Pouches That Fix Everything

A conversation with a virtual client got me thinking about purses, and realizing I’d never actually done an episode on this. So here’s a quick, practical one.

The purse problem you’ve probably had

Running into a store only to realize your purse got left in the car. Setting it down somewhere in a shop to pick up an item, then reaching the checkout line and realizing it’s gone, retracing every step hoping it’s still there. Riding with it on your lap in the winter, then dumping the whole thing on the ground the second you jump out of the car. If any of that sounds familiar, there’s really one fix that works.

Go crossbody, no exceptions

After driving myself, and my husband, a little crazy one too many times, I landed on the crossbody as the only purse style that actually solves this. It stays attached to you, hands free, no setting it down without noticing, no forgetting it’s on your lap before you jump out of a car. If you already carry one and never gave this problem a second thought, congratulations, you were ahead of the curve without realizing it.

Smaller is better, and fewer pockets is better still

The instinct to buy a purse with tons of specialized pockets sounds smart on paper, a place for everything. In practice, when you’re in a hurry, you shove things in wherever’s fastest, then spend the next stop frantically checking pocket after pocket for your wallet. Skip the seventeen-pocket travel bag. A near-clutch size with minimal compartments works far better for how we actually use it in the moment.

The three-pouch system

Dump your purse out right now and sort what’s inside. Nearly everything will fall into one of three categories: electronics, office-type supplies, or bathroom-type supplies. Grab three small pouches, however fun or plain you like, one for each category, and keep your wallet and phone loose. That’s the entire system. It won’t stay perfectly organized day to day, your purse will keep collecting trash, snacks, and mystery items your kids hand you, that’s just life. But when it finally gets chaotic enough that you dump it out to start over, you’ll know exactly which pouch everything belongs in, and putting it all back together takes about two minutes instead of becoming its own project.

For purse-swappers and evening clutches

If you like switching bags for a night out, keep a small wallet stocked with just the essentials that you can grab straight out of your main purse for the evening, then drop it right back in when you get home. If you switch purses seasonally, that’s a perfectly fine cleaning rhythm too, just twice a year.

Your practical, actionable step

Dump your purse out today, sort everything into electronics, office supplies, and bathroom supplies, and grab three small pouches to hold each category going forward.

Until next time, continue to choose joy.