solo work trip essentials

268. a list of essentials to bring on a solo work trip

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Transcript

Why A Solo Work Trip Packing List

Focus Tools: Cube Timers That Work

Cozy Must-Haves And Misses

Sleep Rituals That Travel Well

Capture Tools And Favorite Pens

Notepads, Planners, And Music Breaks

Starter Pack And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hey friend, I am coming at you to you with you from the Oregon coast. I'm in a little town called Manzanita right on the ocean. And I am here for a solo work trip. And I recorded a separate episode sort of about what that is and what I'm doing here. But I thought it might be fun to talk about what I bring with me, what are sort of my essentials when I go on a solo work trip. Um, I forgot where I was. I want to say maybe I was on threads, and I saw somebody talking about how she has a like packing list for every possible scenario, like vacationing, um, traveling, visiting friends, and also every different sort of place. So she has like cold weather trips, camping trips, sunny trips, uh, different different packing lists for each one. And I'm like, and so she was like, so anytime we decide to go on a trip, she just basically pulls up that file and she has the checklist or packing list ready to go. And I was like, oh my gosh, that's one of those things that I think is like a brilliant idea and so smart, and I probably will never do it. But now that I'm on this trip today, I and I realize that I have forgotten some of the kind of air quote essentials, I'm like, now would be a really good time, or like you know, yesterday when I was packing would be a really good time to have that list of solo work trip essentials. So part of the reason I'm doing this episode is just so I can like put it into memory and maybe I can reflect back on this next time I go on a solo work trip because I do this a couple times a year. So I'll give you a couple of the essentials. I always bring my cube timers. So this is like like a kitchen timer, but it's a cube, and on each side of the cube there's a different increment of time. So I bring ones with tiny increments: one, three, five, ten, and I think my other one is like 10, 15, 20, maybe 30. Um, those are essential to me for when I am really trying to do focused work. I think I've done a whole podcast episode on those, I think, in the past. Uh, but that's a really big productivity tip for my brain. This 25 minutes craziness of the Pomodoro technique does not work for me. I need to have like increments of like five or ten. Seven's also a really good one. Um, but anyway, those are essential to me. A warm blanket because I like to sit on the couch and do my work next to a fire. Blanket is one of the things I forgot, and this rental house has no throw blankets. No throw blankets, y'all. So I had to get a comforter off of one of the couches to cozy up on the couch, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I love me a good throw blanket. I also love to bring a candle, um, like a travel candle, just to light it and get me kind of in the mood, and it feels cozy, and there's certain scented ones that I really love, and it just kind of puts me in that mode of like I am working. I also forgot the candle this time, y'all. Like, what is happening? The coze level is just on a low because I did not plan accordingly, but that is something that I almost always bring. I also love to bring, I have a sleep spray. It's like lavender, chamomile, and melatonin, and maybe a couple other things. And I love to spray that on my bedding. Um, and then it gives me a really good sleep and it just smells like home. I love to spray it at night. Chris hates it because we always sleep with a fan on, and somehow I always manage to spray it kind of in front of the fan and then it spritzes all over him and he doesn't love it, but it smells so good. So um I know he secretly loves it. But anyway, so that makes me just feel at home and feel cozy. I also bring um index cards and post-it notes because inevitably when I'm working, I'll have quick flashes of ideas that I don't want to miss and I want to capture them and just keep moving. So those are always next to me. I bring an endless supply of pens. My favorite pen is a pilot G2 with a 0.5 tip. Love it so much. I've been using them, oh gosh, four or five years maybe. Favorite pen. I also bring an endless supply of lip balm because I'm just sort of realized I'm kind of addicted. I actually signed up to be uh to volunteer to be in this trial for a lip balm, but one of the rules was that you had to only use that lip balm during the day for like four weeks maybe. And I signed up anyway, and I'm like, this might be a really good exercise to see if I actually can do it. Um, but anyway, I have an endless supply of lip balm, lip gloss, every kind. It's crazy. Um, what else do I bring? Of course, I bring my laptop. Um I bring, oh, I know what I bring. I bring big um, I have legal pads, but they're not yellow. I can't write on the yellow paper. They're white and they're not legal size. So basically it's just a notepad. I don't know why I called it a legal pad. It's a white notepad. Um, college ruled, please. I need lots of lines, and I just write endless notes on there. I always bring my planner. Uh just I really like kind of having an agenda for the day. I also um I was just thinking of something. Oh, I bring my speaker. So I have a little Bose portable speaker, and it's Bluetooth, so I will play music on it either while I'm working, well, definitely while I'm working, but also when I need to have a little dance break. So a lot of times I will get so focused on my work that I am sitting on the couch or at the table for kind of a long period of time, and so it's really good for me to get up and move my body. So I'll just put on a song and I'll have a little dance break, and it's pretty amazing. What else do I bring? I think that's kind of like the major essentials. So I'm sure I'll think of other things when I'm off of this episode. But um, just a little starter pack if you wanted to make a list, or if you're just nosy, I love seeing what other people bring and what other people put in their bags. So uh hope this was fun. Love you.