Highly productive folk share their everyday carry and explain what helps them make stuff happen.

Bag owner: Alex, Designer / Photographer / Writer (Roadmap+)

This month our designer, photographer and writer, Alex, gives us an update on his everyday carry.

the right bag with the right things at the right time

What's in your everyday bag and why?

I'm carrying a charcoal This Is Ground Tech Dopp Kit which holds all my cords and HDD, a Pentax K1000 with an extra roll of Ektar 100 film, iPhone 7, Beats earphones, a Montblanc pen and case, wallet and keys (not pictured), can of coffee, sunglasses, MacBook Air, and a Moleskine for sketches and random notes on the go. I took the photo with my Canon 5D Mark IV, which is my main camera for everything from personal projects, university assignments and the Roadmap+ Magazine. It's a great all-round camera and it suits every need of mine, so I bring it out everyday. Today's bag is a Marni backpack.

What's your minimum must-carry?

It's still my cameras, camera batteries, iPhone, iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil, earphones, a pen, a notebook, wallet, keys and sunglasses. Since my last #whatsinmybag, I still have the Pentax K1000 film camera, which I really only use occasionally when there's something unusual to shoot. I do all my photo editing on my iMac at home or in the office, so the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard is usually more than enough to replace my MacBook Air these days (the day this photo was taken was an exception as I'd forgotten to charge my iPad the night before).

Any tips for getting things done?

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that it's good to have the right bag with the right things at the right time. Have a set of two to four bags that each serve a specific purpose for the type of day you've planned. I've learnt this the hard way trying to find the perfect everyday bag. I realised bags with a purpose apply to every part of life, for example, it's best to have a university bag, work bag, casual bag, travel bag, and so on, and to try to keep them packed with the right stuff, always ready to go. So depending on the parameters of the day, there should be a dedicated bag.

To be featured, email your answers to the three questions answered above and include a link to your photo (16:9 or 16:10 format) to submissions@roadmapplus.com. If you have a blog, Instagram or other social media account you'd like us to feature, please include the URLs in your email.

See also... What's in my bag series, Everyday Carry