Regular Unpacking
A simple way to process stress and experiences before they build up and affect how you show up.
Included in these Programs: STEP Training - LEAP Courses
Tool Overview
Regular Unpacking is stopping regularly to assess what you’re carrying in your life’s backpack and doing the work to unpack, reorganize, and consolidate what’s important.
Evaluating current responsibilities, relationships, and life events we have not yet “unpacked” allows us to offload what may be weighing us down unnecessarily.
Our packs are often heavier during periods of increased stress and trauma. During these times it’s important to recognize what’s missing from your backpack like rest, a healthy diet, exercise, or human connection.
Quick Practice: Try It Now
1 - Consider your roles in life (coworker, boss, parent, friend) and list some of the things you carry in your “backpack” for those roles.
2 - Ask yourself the following:
Which of these “objects” connect to my values, and which don’t?
Am I carrying any burdens that I don’t actually have control over?
Which “objects” bring me the most joy?
What do I reasonably have room for right now?
3 - Name one thing you can let go of, and one thing you want to carry forward.
Common Mistakes
Waiting too long to unpack leads to overload instead of clarity
Overestimating what you can carry and becoming overloaded
Only unpacking negative experiences and missing what’s helping you
Why it works
Regular Unpacking draws from:
CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) → identifying and organizing thoughts reduces cognitive overload
DBT (Dialectic Behavioral Therapy) → increasing awareness of emotional experience without judgment
Trauma-Informed Approach → prevents accumulation of unresolved stress, which can dysregulate the nervous system over time
Related Tools
Emotion Wave Surfing → for moving through emotions in real time
Radical Acceptance → for situations you can’t change
Drive Your Attention → for redirecting focus after unpacking
Identifying Primary vs. Secondary Emotions → for deeper clarity
Learn this in training
Regular Unpacking is taught as part of the STEP program, where participants practice applying it to real experiences and build it into ongoing routines.
