For most of my life I have found myself being just a little unprepared for everything. If we were going hiking, I'd forget good shoes or socks and come home with sore feet and blisters on my ankles. If I were presenting a project, I'd forget my notecards and leave out half the important information. Usually, nothing terrible happened due to my unpreparedness, but it got frustrating to always feel one step behind everyone else.

The solution to the problem was simple: a big purse. After some time I also realized that the bigger the purse, the more prepared you can be.

There are several categories of preparedness you can strive to be: practical, medical, personal, and overachieving. Each category is has its advantages over the others, but also comes with the disadvantage of not being fully prepared for every situation. To reach the ultimate level of preparedness, your purse will contain items from each category.

Pens, white out, a portable phone charger, a pocket knife, an extra ponytail, and headphones are all practical items. Each of these items are used daily, so they could never be considered a waste of space. Other items like a little comb, batteries, a mini stapler, and nail clippers are also practical, but used less often. If you have the space, though, they are worth a spot in your purse.

Another category of preparedness is medical. Advil, Tylenol, Aspirin, Dayquil, Nyquil, Tums, Zantac, and more are all common medicines people need for headaches and stomach aches and common cold symptoms. Cough drops also fall into this category. No one ever expects someone to be carrying these things, so if you are, you could be a real hero to someone one day. If you want to take this to the next level, also carry eye drops, band aids, Neosporin, and Benadryl, especially if you spend a lot of time around kids because they tend to fall and get scrapes more often than adults.

Deodorant, nail polish and nail polish remover, laundry pods, dryer sheets, backup glasses, hand sanitizer, and snacks are all things you personally might need throughout the course of the day. I also recommend investing in a travel toothbrush and mini toothpaste because you never know when you might need to freshen up. Chapstick/lipstick, dry shampoo, kleenex, and throw-away flossing tools could make you the most personally prepared type of person.

And last but not least, we have the overachieving category. In here we have mini flashlights (in case the power goes out), sewing kits (for an unexpected snag right before a huge presentation), hand warmers (for those outrageously cold days), and an umbrella. Carrying any or all of those items is an incredible feat.

While your purse may be heavy after all these items are thrown into it, at least you can be sure that you will be prepared no matter what happens during the day.