What are you carrying around with you every day?
Take your backpack, laptop bag and/or purse, wallet and beltware and lay it all out on the table.
Do you really need all this shit with you all the time? Do some weeding to optimize your kit.
Are you using the right thing to carry it all around? Last time I did this exercise I changed to a smaller laptop bag which sets an upper ceiling on the amount of stuff which can accrete into my routine load.
Don't forget to create the mini-kit that has just the essentials for a walk or evening out. I have a simple little wallet sized pouch that holds my transit passes, ATM card, credit card, paper money, health care card, driver's license, small pieces of yellow paper and space pen. With that, my keys and my mobile phone (with its built-in camera), I'm pretty much ready for anything that doesn't require my computer.
Get in the habit of quickly returning your bag and kit to its base condition – toss that extra change into a jar on your dresser, throw out the wrappers, put the receipts in with your bills, etc. – at least once a week. Your back will thank you.
Discardia 
I just did this yesterday with my keyring and I feel so much lighter. I need to repeat it with my wallet and other pocket. Oh, and thanks for reminding me to dump my change.
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I love Sharpies markers, and was delighted to discover Mini Sharpies recently- they’re about half the size of the regular ones, and have a ring so you can attach them to a keyring or lanyard or anything like that. I hesitate to put one on my keyring though, because I carry my keyring in my pants pocket, and don’t want to add anything. One Mini Sharpie in my car, one in my laptop bag, and one on my desk. That should do the trick for now.
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I recently transformed an empty makeup bag into a “freelancers bag”. It has everything I need to be productive in someone else’s office for the day — my extra hard drive, my favorite mouse, a handful of pencils and some stickies, headphones, extra cables, cough drops, eyedrops, chapstick… Most of those things were just floating around in my bag, so now that I have everything consolidated, I can just take it when I don’t need it and free up a bunch of space. It’s also see-though, so I know what I have with me and keep everything in it relatively neat.
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Great tip, Mary!
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