How to Organize Your Backpack

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Organizing your backpack may seem difficult, especially if you normally shove every piece of paper into your backpack haphazardly, but it is not as hard as it may seem. By dividing the task up into steps, and just focus on completing each step, then you will be done in no time! This wikiHow will teach you how to organize your backpack.

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Organizing a School Backpack

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  1. Take everything out of your backpack first, including any smaller compartments. Next, tip it over a trashcan and shake it to get those last few scraps, crumbs, and bits of lint out.
    • If you’re starting with a brand-new and empty backpack, you’re way ahead of the game.
    • If your backpack is stuffed full of papers, books, and other stuff from your previous semester, empty it completely.
  2. In your first pile, place all of your school textbooks, folders, binders, and notebooks. In your second pile, place your school supplies, such as pens, pencils, erasers, glue, etc. In your last pile, put the other items that you use on a daily or seasonal basis, such as your lunch box, scarf, mittens, etc.
    • If you take your laptop to school, you should put it in the first pile too.
    • Discard or put away anything that doesn’t fit in any of these 3 piles, such as trash, candy, toys, extra phone chargers, etc.
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  3. Backpacks typically have 1 large compartment and at least 1 small compartment. Open up the small compartment, and start putting your school supplies away into it.
    • Some backpacks even have slots for pens, pencils, and cellphones. Use these for those items.
    • If your backpack doesn’t have a smaller compartment, get a pencil bag. Put your supplies into the bag, then put it into your backpack. [1]
  4. For example, put all of your English books, notebooks, and binders into 1 pile, and all of your Science stuff into another pile. If you have any loose papers, put them away into the right folder or binder first.
    • If you need to buy new binders, folders, and notebooks, consider color-coding them. Use a different color for different subjects, like red for English and blue for Science. You can use stickers, markers, or even white Out to color-code them.
    • Stack binders with their spines facing away from each other. This will create a straight stack rather than a sloped one. It will take up less space.
  5. Unless you want to lag around a heavy backpack that is almost as big as you are, there is no need to pack everything. Each morning or evening before school, go through your backpack and take out anything that you don't need for the next day. Put everything that you do need back into your backpack. [2]
    • Leave the stuff that you don't need at home or in your locker .
    • This also goes for school supplies. If you take art class once per week, there is no need to carry around your art supplies every day.
  6. While not absolutely necessary, this can come in handy, especially if you are in middle school or junior high. If you get a permission slip or report card that your parents need to sign, you’ll need a safe place to put it. Use a separate folder for this purpose.
    • Place this folder behind or in front of the other books and folders.
  7. Things like lotion, hand sanitizer, and lip balm may come in handy every day, so you can leave those in your backpack for the entire school year. Other items, such as scarves, mittens, umbrellas, and sunglasses, will only come in handy during certain seasons. You should leave these items out until the weather calls for it.
    • Instead of using full-sized lotion and hand sanitizer bottles, go for the mini travel-sized ones. You'll need to replace them more often, but you'll also save space.
    • If you live in an unpredictable climate, then having a warm hat or an umbrella might be a good idea.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Organizing a Hiking Pack

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  1. For good measure, tip your pack upside down over a bin and shake it to get any bits of trash out. Only when your pack is empty will you have an adequate sense of what it can accommodate. [3]
    • If you’ve organized your pack in the same way for a long while, emptying it out completely can help you imagine new ways to organize it more efficiently.
  2. Even if your backpack feels light when you first pack it, it will start to feel heavy after a few hours of hiking. Go through the items you plan on putting into your pack, and find the heaviest ones. Decide whether or not you really need them for the trip. [4]
    • For instance, if you have a cooking pan you really like but rarely use, it might be a good idea to leave it at home. Consider replacing it with a lighter pan instead.
    • How much your backpack weighs in the end depends on what you can personally carry and endure. Different people can carry different amounts of weight.
  3. When organizing an internal frame backpack, the area at the bottom should be reserved for light material, while the medium-weight stuff should be packed on top of it. The heaviest things should be packed in the middle of the forward-most area of the backpack. [5]
    • In other words, the heaviest items should be against the area that actually touches your back.
  4. Similar to an internal frame backpack, you want to start with the lightest items first. After that, you want to add the medium-weight items, and finally, the heaviest. Tuck them as tightly as possible against the forward-most area of the pack. [6]
    • The goal in both modes of organization is to center the weight on your hips so that you can more easily maintain balance.
  5. Items that you might use or need at any time – insect repellents, snacks, rain ponchos, and so on – should be placed in outer pockets. That way, you can grab and use them easily without having to stop, unpack, find the items, and repack. [7]
    • If your backpack doesn't have many outer pockets, keep the more useful items towards the top. Leave the items you seldom use towards the bottom.
  6. Here is where you can think outside the box and get a little creative. Many items, such as cooking pots and bear canisters, take up a lot of space, but they are hallow in the inside. Why let all that hallow space go to waste? You can take advantage of it by filling it with useful items. For example: [8]
    • You can place shirts or rolled-up socks inside cooking pots.
    • Rolls of duct tape can slide over hiking poles.
    • Bear canisters are perfect for cramming with snacks and other scented items.
  7. Many hiking and camping backpacks have special compartments that have been designed for particular purposes. For instance, many backpacks have space for a water bladder (typically located directly behind and at the top of the pack). Other packs have slots specifically designed for sleeping bags. [9]
    • Consult your backpack owner’s guide to identify how the manufacturer intended the backpack to be used.
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Expert Q&A

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  • Question
    What should I bring on the first day of school?
    Ashley Pritchard, MA
    School Counselor
    Ashley Pritchard is an Academic and School Counselor at Delaware Valley Regional High School in Frenchtown, New Jersey. Ashley has over 3 years of high school, college, and career counseling experience. She has an MA in School Counseling with a specialization in Mental Health from Caldwell University and is certified as an Independent Education Consultant through the University of California, Irvine.
    Ashley Pritchard, MA
    School Counselor
    Expert Answer
    Most schools have a supplies list, so make sure you pick up the items on that list before school starts. If you don't have a supplies list, bring a pen and a notebook so you can take notes if necessary. You may also want to bring chapstick and a phone charger, depending on whether your school allows phones or not.
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    Not Helpful 9 Helpful 12
  • Question
    How can I reduce the weight and bulk of my backpack?
    Community Answer
    Only pack what you need. If you're organizing your backpack for the school day, bring only the books you need for the class or classes you're headed to. If you're organizing your pack at the end of the school day, bring home only those books that you need to do your homework. Leave unnecessary books at home or in your locker.
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  • Question
    How do you keep your backpack clean?
    Community Answer
    On a semi-regular basis (every weekend, for instance), empty your backpack. Shake it out over a rubbish bin. If necessary, use a handheld vacuum to remove lint and crumbs from the pack. Afterwards, replace everything.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
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      • If your school has a different schedule every day (for example: on Mondays you have are Biology, English and Math), you can make extra space in your backpack by rotating things out. Only bring the things that you need for the classes you have that day.
      • Instead of putting your small personal items (phone, iPod, calculator, flash cards, etc.) in the front pocket of your backpack, put them in a smaller pocket inside the bag's bigger compartment. Maybe this tip will help you prevent that from happening.
      • I like to put the heavier things (like binders) in the back pocket of my backpack, and lighter things in front (like a paperback book).
      • When you come home from school, empty your bag and reorganize it for the next day. That way, you'll always be ready and prepared.
      • Make sure to get a backpack that fits your own needs and style or you probably won't want to keep it organized.
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      References

      1. ↑ http://www.momentswithmandi.com/5-tips-tricks-for-organizing-a-backpack/
      2. ↑ http://www.momentswithmandi.com/5-tips-tricks-for-organizing-a-backpack/
      3. ↑ http://www.wildbackpacker.com/backpacking-gear/backpacks/how-to-pack-a-backpack/
      4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB7ZOjnnFS8
      5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB7ZOjnnFS8
      6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB7ZOjnnFS8
      7. ↑ http://www.wildbackpacker.com/backpacking-gear/backpacks/how-to-pack-a-backpack/
      8. ↑ http://www.wildbackpacker.com/backpacking-gear/backpacks/how-to-pack-a-backpack/
      9. ↑ http://www.wildbackpacker.com/backpacking-gear/backpacks/how-to-pack-a-backpack/

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