I recently decided to change up my “normal” and work from my company’s local office. This was my first time back in a formal office setting since March 2020. Since then, I have been working from home and haven’t had an opportunity to use my work bag. I thought it would be a fun trip down memory lane to do a post about what I had in my bag when going to the office was a thing! My new group is 80%-100% remote so I most likely won’t be using a work bag anytime soon unless I work from my local office or end up traveling to Tampa for work.
Now that I have cleared out my bad of 2020 “memories”, I can start fresh for this year (yes, even though it’s August 2021) and any travel it brings.
Left Side
- Receipt for purse. I bought this Kate Spade laptop tote right before returning to work from family leave (holla to the Kate Spade Outlet @ the Houston Premium Outlets). Joke was on me because I used it for less than 14 days and then it was stored away for almost 2 years. Otherwise, it’s a great bag that has enough space for my laptop, charger, mouse (not pictured) and everything in this post. Here’s a similar one from the Kate Spade website.
- VGA to HDMI converter. I use this to connect my laptop to a second screen. With the number of excels and word docs I review for work, a second (and sometimes third screen) is essentially a requirement to do my job. Fun fact: I brought my extra monitor home on what we thought was the first day of our 2-week break (turned 1.5+ years) from working in the office. I probably looked redic but am very greatful for my Enneagram Type 6 brain.
- Chapstick. My favorite Burt’s Bees Pink Grapefruit lip balm. So yummy that you could eat it – may have licked it a few too many times but who’s counting.
- Pens, pencil and highlighter. I love pens (thanks to my mom) so I like to have as many options as possible. Surprisingly, each of these writing utensils serves a specific purpose. For example, my favorite pen to use for my to-do lists and notes is the PILOT V5 Retractable pen. I’m also a to-do list highlighter rather than a crosser-outer, hence my Sharpie Pocket Highlighter. An erasable pen was an essential pen for doing financial statement tie-outs, but our firm has since created a cloud-based tie-out software so goodbye to pen and paper auditing.
- Driver’s License and Corporate AMEX Card. Needed for when I drove to work and could expense things (ie. snacks and dinners).
- Steno Notebook. A lined Steno pad is my favorite way to track my to-do lists and notes at the office. My client had these supplies for free for us to use. Now that I’ve worked from home for the past 1.5 years, I’ve transitioned to using a medium-sized vertical spiral notebook. This is the one I’m currently using.
- Sticky notes. Another free office supply provided by my client. I use these for notes I want to see and stick them to the wall or my monitor for quick reference – it’s not a cute look, but works for me!
- Badges. I had one badge holder for my company badge, client badge and parking badge. I was actually worried I lost this because it had been almost 2 years since I used it, but it was tucked safely away in my work bag…also can you believe I used to pay almost $200 per month for PARKING?!?!
- Spearmint gum. We used to live off of spearmint gum. It was the perfect thing to pop in before heading into a team or client meeting. My favorite is Orbit Spearmint gum.
- Jonas Brother concert tickets. A big LOL. The Jonas Brothers are my and my best friend’s favorite boy band. This was their Happiness Begins reunion tour after 6 YEARS of being “broken up”. It was the best night ever – and if you’re wondering, YES I have tickets to their 2021 Remember This tour!!
Right Side
- Essentials bag. This was my bag of essentials ranging from Advil, Playtex tampons, a Goodie hair tie, Ricola cough drops, Sally Hansen cuticle cream, and a thermometer and hand sanitizer (lol). It may seem like a little much, but you’d be surprised how much I used the items in here.
- Feminine hygiene kit. This included tampons and pantiliners for me and any co-workers to use for the time of the month. I never tried to hide it because it’s natural and part of a woman’s life! No one ever made comments about it but it was nice to have one pouch I could bring to the bathroom with me. GIRL POWER AMIRITE.
- Microfiber screen cleaner. I honestly rarely used this, which you would know from just looking at my laptop screen. But nice to have in case I felt like cleaning my screen or blue light glasses (not pictured because I use these on the daily).
- Folder of my parents’ tax documents. As much as I PUH-REACH that I’m not a tax accountant, here I am with my parents’ financial details to do their taxes for the year (via TurboTax of course)…look I’d do anything for them so bleh!
- Two pairs of headphones. A workday essential – headphones for listening to music! This was the year I upgraded my work phone from an iPhone 7 to an iPhone X and with that came a new pair of lightning port headphones. My laptop on the other hand has a standard AUX port for headphones, hence the 2nd pair of headphones.
- Cash. A rare sight these days…cash. This was my emergency stash that was for some reason in my work bag.
- Paper copy of my passport and ID. I’m honestly not sure why this was in my work bag but you never know! Nowadays this will be a copy of my passport, ID, and vaccination card.
This bag became somewhat of a time capsule for the wild ride that was 2020. While I’m not returning to work anytime soon, my work bag now has all of the essentials I need for a successful transition back into the working world outside of my home (including a mask). Now back to my home office with a commute of approximately 15 seconds.
Happy working!
Vivian
