What's in My Work Bag - The Career Edit

I am a little nosy and I absolutely love it when I come across a “What’s in my work bag” type of post, video, reel etc… so I thought I would (finally) do one as well. I try and keep my bags rather light, but of course, it does not always work out. Especially when going to work, I end up throwing quite a few things in.

Now, keep in mind below is the cleaned up version, or the essentials I always tend to carry. I might also throw in anything else I find at hand and deem essential in a given morning. This can be a chocolate bar (I never give up my coffee + something small sweet ritual), hopefully house and office keys (though I forgot those more than once), and even a whole cake if we’re celebrating something at work. But, I was kind enough to keep it clean for you, so here is what’s in my work bag, the organised version.

The work bag

Quite often when I go to the office I reach for my Louis Vuiton NéoNoé Monogram Empreinte in black leather. It’s the first luxury bag I bought, and I absolutely love it. The leather, the embossing, the gold hardware, it all just melts my heart when I look at it. I still love it like I did on day one. The bag fits quite a lot – much more than pictured – however, it does not fit a laptop. So whenever I take this bag to work, I have to carry my laptop separately in a laptop sleeve. It does fit an iPad pretty nicely, so if that is your main device, it’s a great option.

To note is that I also have a couple of bag inserts to keep the bag shape and organized. The bag has a zip pocket wall in the middle that splits it into two. So I placed two bag organizers on each side to keep the shape intact. In addition, I also added a “harder” flat insert at the bottom. This way I can make sure it keeps its shape as I really dislike when the bottom sags.

What’s in my work bag

Cardholder: I treated myself to the Chanel card holder last year and gave up on carrying a full wallet and even any cash with me. (Which, I have to say is often a mistake in Berlin.) I now carry only a handful of cards with me and rely on my Apple Watch to pay most of the time.
Small notebook: Since I moved my notes to my digital notebook (I use Notion) I now only use and carry a small Moleskine one to jot down work related thoughts and key to-do’s. I actually have a separate one for personal thoughts and then one for work to-do’s. They come in sets of three, which is quite handy since they are rather small and thin.
Kindle: I am totally guilty of carrying it with me all the time because I just love it. I also try to squeeze in tiny bits of reading whenever I can, whether it’s a coffee break or my commute, which has definitely helped with my reading habits. I shared more about it here and you can see my Kindle here and the cover I use.
Hand cream: I usually always carry one with me, whichever I find at hand. Pictured is the Chanel one with No. 5 scent. Scent, by the way, that I really disliked in the past but has really grown on me in the last year.
Hand sanitizer: I carry this one from a brand called Haan because it’s pretty packaging and the smell is very pleasant compared to a lot of the other ones out there. I love that the brand also has refills, so I don’t need to buy a new one every time it runs out. This brand also has bundles for hand cream + hand sanitizer which look really nice.
Sunglasses: I usually carry a pair of sunglasses with me, in their case. Pictured are the hexagonal Ray Bans with dark green lenses and golden rims that I just treated myself to earlier this summer.
AirPods Pro: Nothing to say here, my AirPods are just an essential at this stage.
Perfume: I am obsessed with the Jo Malone Sea Sage & Salt fragrance for the past couple of years. I have a full-sized one at home, but I also got a smaller version (30ml) to carry around.
Laptop: The days I take this bag to work, I carry my laptop separately in a laptop sleeve. I have to say that the biggest caveat of this bag is that it does not fit a laptop. It does fit an iPad pretty nicely, so if that is your main device, it’s a great option.

These days I don’t carry a beauty pouch at all. I am lucky if I remember to throw in a lipstick or a lipbalm. However, since we still wear masks in certain places in Berlin, I got out of the habit so that’s not always guraanteed.