About My Pocket System

Recently, I saw a tweet from Navin Kabra about a Reddit post where a woman described her husband’s pocket organization like she was documenting a newly discovered species. Everything had its place, and nothing ever moved. Navin also mentioned he’d only changed his own system twice in 30 years.

I have always wondered about this and as it turns out, this is completely normal. Every guy has a pocket system. It’s not something you design or think about. You just try different arrangements until one day your hand reaches for your keys and they’re exactly where you expect them to be. Then you never change it again.

Here’s mine.

Front Right Pocket: Handkerchief and Keys. The handkerchief is non-negotiable. This is India. You need one for the dust, the heat, the sweat. The keys go here too because I am right handed.

Front Left Pocket: Primary Phone. This way my left hand grabs the phone while my right hand is free for othet things.

Back Right Pocket: Wallet. The classic spot. Safe, out of the way, and mostly comfortable when sitting. These days I do not carry much cash anyways due to proliferation UPI. Unless I sense a risk of pick pocketing. Then it goes into right front pocket.

This system worked perfectly for years. Then my company gave me a work phone.

Two phones in one pocket is a disaster. Screens scratch and it gets too bulky. So the work phone went into the front right pocket with the handkerchief. Not ideal, but better than the alternatives.

Then there’s shorts mode. Most of my shorts don’t have back pockets, which means no place for the wallet. So the wallet moves to the front left pocket with my primary phone. The front right pocket still holds the handkerchief, keys, and work phone. It’s cramped, but it works.

The whole thing sounds ridiculous when you write about it. But that’s kind of the point. Over time, things just settle into their most efficient spot without you thinking about it. You don’t actively decide “this is my system.” You just live with it and it becomes so familiar to you until one day you realize your hand knows exactly where everything is without looking or even thinking about it. And then it becomes your system.