My love of travel is dampened by the inevitable need to pack for a trip. Packing is one of my worst skills. Inevitably, at some point in the process of packing for a trip, I end up in tears of frustration, resolved never to go anywhere again.

It’s too much effort. Too much anxiety. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze.

Packing isn’t just a “to-do list” action item; it’s a project: a series of discrete tasks that result in an outcome of a packed suitcase.

Why Packing is So Hard

Have you ever noticed that it takes a lot less time to pack when you’re going home at the end of a vacation than it does to pack for the vacation?

This may seem obvious, but it speaks to one of the most significant challenges that many people have with packing — especially people with ADHD.

The real problem isn’t the packing itself — it’s the decisions about what to pack. Before you can put the clothes in the suitcase, you must decide what will go into the suitcase.

Each decision drains energy and brain resources, and depletes motivation. It’s physically and cognitively challenging.

The actual act of packing the clothes in the suitcase is fun. Once I get to that part, it’s like solving a puzzle: making space for everything to fit.

On the way back, there are no more decisions about what to bring. You have the known universe of stuff that must fit into your suitcase. So it’s only the logic game of how it will fit.

Your experience might vary, of course. But if you struggle with packing, try discerning whether its’s the decisions or the packing itself.