Pack ’n Say
Our story

Why I made Pack ’n Say

I have ADHD, and over 20 years I’d built up a lot of chaos. When it was time to move house, I knew I didn’t want the same chaos, just in a new house. I wanted to pack in a way that meant I’d know what I had, and could find things in future.

A loft piled high with loose boxes, bags, packaging and clutter under the rafters. Overflowing shelves crammed with open boxes, books, carrier bags and cables.
Before. Twenty years of stuff in the loft.

Every system I looked at meant logging things one by one and writing lists on the sides of boxes. That was never going to happen.

So I put off packing altogether. Starting without a system felt like giving up on the dream of ever being able to find things again.

With the day I had to move out getting closer, I wondered: could I build my own app, designed around everything that was stopping me? Something that would let me pack in any order I liked and never lose track of anything.

The result was Pack ’n Say. I used it to log everything I had as I packed it into boxes, without ever writing anything down or typing into an app.

A tidy stack of boxes against a brick wall, each with a numbered QR label. Two clear plastic tubs, labelled 69 and 70, full of cables, connectors and guitar parts.
During. Every box labelled, and everything in it logged as it went in.
The Pack ’n Say screen for box 102: a photo of the closed box, a short summary of what’s inside, and a grid of item photos captioned Old toy bus, Yellow submarine, Two tie pins, Handmade model locomotive, Silver plated coaster and 100 g weight.
In the app

This is box 102. Forty-seven things, from an old toy bus to a 100 g weight, each with a photo and the words I said as I packed it.

The summary at the top was written by the optional AI helper, so I can tell what’s in a box at a glance.

“It took away the worry, and the shame of creating more chaos, so I could throw myself headlong into the task.”

I was also able to get rid of a huge amount of stuff I didn’t need, because I knew that what I was keeping was safely boxed and logged.

A big pile of unwanted things outside the house waiting to be taken away: bags, boxes, an old TV, a duvet and a guitar.
Letting go. Some of the things I didn’t need, out for collection. There was a lot more.
The loft, cleared and empty apart from a few boards. A trolley loaded with labelled boxes and clear tubs, heading for the lifts. Labelled boxes stacked neatly in a storage unit.
After. An empty loft, and every box on its way, with a record of what’s inside.

It was life changing. If moving house feels like that for you too, I hope Pack ’n Say helps.

Andy

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