Pack phone
Phones rarely sit where the bag is being packed. They are charging in the hallway or still on the nightstand, which is precisely why they drop off the mental list. The picture below puts the device back in view.
♂Pack phone
A boy packs his phone into a green backpack.
About this visual support
The odd thing about the phone as a packing item is that it is almost never visible when packing actually happens. It is charging in the hallway or still on the nightstand, and because it is not in sight at the same moment the bag is being closed, it falls out of the mental checklist. Then you reach the bus stop and realise the phone is at home.
A picture of the phone in the visual schedule acts as a cue right before the front door opens. It breaks the autopilot and says collect it from wherever it is. For older children, that means one less thing to nag about out loud, which lowers the volume in the hallway.
The practical move is to anchor the picture to a position: place it second to last, right before shoes, so retrieving the phone becomes its own little errand between rooms. It also resolves the charging dilemma, since the battery lasts longer when the device stays plugged in until just before departure. In Routined you can drop this step into a morning or leaving routine and try the app for fourteen days at no cost.