5 Easy Ways to Always be Prepared

I love to be prepared. Especially, when it is for something unpredictable. This is probably because most of the time I am not prepared properly. I am always the one that came out for brunch in a thunderstorm with a suede bag. Or, the one who packed 10 pairs of shorts and 2 pairs of pants for a week in 60 degree weather. I never have the lipstick I want in the bag I am carrying, and the shoes that would look best on the weekends are always at the office. I’m not complaining. Such is life, I am just letting you know why I enjoy the few moments when I really nail it.

There are 5 easy ways that I try to be prepared. They’ve been proven to work for me, but it doesn’t cover everything (obviously). However, if you do end up needing one unexpectedly I promise you will feel awesome in 5 minutes or less.

1. Always keep your phone charged
I can’t even begin to tell you how often my phone dies and how annoying it is. Honestly, at this point having your phone is unfortunately necessary. Recently, on our trip out west, both Amiram and I forgot to charge our phones and as a result (this is the result every time you do not charge your phone) our phones were dead. We were walking through the La Jolla area and like all boys Amiram got distracted and wondered off. No where to be found. At first, it wasn’t a problem because I was with my friends whom we were visiting. However, after about an hour our friends needed to leave and I was stranded in a park with no idea if Amiram, who had the keys to the car, would ever return. Pay phones actually do not exist any longer. Most of them are just empty shells where phones used to be. It was stressful, unnecessary, and a big inconvenience. Eventually, Amiram did return. He wasn’t stressed at all and had been enjoying ice cream on the boardwalk…. Boys, sigh.

2. Always have money on your public transit card
Yes, I could download an app that let’s me know the MTA schedule. But, what lazy New Yorker does that? Not this one. So, most days I find myself walking out the door to see the back of the M21 bus at the stop that is about a block from my apartment. Which means I end up running down the street to try and jump on the bus before the doors close and I need to either walk, or wait about 30 minutes for the next cross-town bus. (Or take a cab, but most likely use Uber…. let’s be real. It is rare I have woken up in time to have 30 minutes to wait on another bus.) Nothing in my morning routine is as annoying as when I ran to get on the bus only to jump in and not have money on my transit card. Honestly, most of the time the bus drivers don’t care. But, every once in a while, you get one obsessed with authority, and he makes me get off the bus, often in the cold.

3. Carry an umbrella
If I’ve learned anything from living in New York it is that Meteorologists have an extremely hard job. I know this because no one seems to be able to do this accurately. I understand in places where the weather doesn’t change as drastically as here it would be easier. So, some people do have pretty accurate weather forecasts. Just for sure not the North East. Wow, I mean I did check the weather, but I stopped a while back because it was just a waste of time. That’s when I started putting umbrellas in my most regularly used handbags. Yep, it sounds excessive because it is… I am just that tired of being rained and snowed on.

4. The Everything Check
If you aren’t currently doing the everything check each morning before you walk out the door I am hoping this will change your life. Because once told to me, it certainly changed mine. It’s so simple. There are probably two or three things that you absolutely can’t forget. So running a quick mental list before you walk out the door is an easy way to make sure you don’t leave the must haves at home. Mine goes like this Keys. Wallet. Phone. I say these three words every time I leave. Dramatic change… I mean I was the type of person who showed up to the airport for an international flight without my wallet. (In my own defense, it was an extremely early flight if I remember correctly.)

5. Water (or cash to get water)
It blows my mind every time I walk into a corner bodega and they don’t accept credit cards. I understand why… it requires a lot of cash to run a proper money laundering operation… but for a very thirsty girl after yoga it is a huge inconvenience experienced without fail each and every saturday morning. Water is important for a lot of reasons which is why it was a sort of resolution to drink more. And I sort of am.

What other quick and easy life hacks do you guys have?