Last week I shared my #1 problem with organizing photos. I bet we share this problem. It is probably why you are here. In this digital age the photos just never stop coming. Organizing and preserving our photos is a HUGE job.
Have a photo preservation plan
I have a lot of photographs from my childhood. They are precious to me. But if my mom or dad didn’t tell me the story of the picture then it is just a cute kid on a piece of paper. I’m determined to leave the story of our family history for my children so they will know the stories even if I never got to tell them.
Are you behind on the Photo Challenge? Jump in!
- Week 2 Time to Organize
- Week 3 More time to Work
- Week 4 How to Organize Digital Photos on computer
- Week 5 Tutorial for Creating Organized Folders for Digital Photos
- Week 6 5 Easy steps to declutter duplicate digital photos
- Week 7 Online Storage Options for Digital Photos
- Week 8 Options for external hard drive and CD/DVD photo backup
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--There's a FREE Photo Inventory download waiting for you!--
Benefits to organized photos
- You can share it IF you can find it. Have you ever searched for a photo and cannot find it? Looking through boxes of loose, disorganized photos will make you crazy!
- You have a link to the past and future. Have you ever had to create a photo slide show for an birthday party for an older family member? It can be a BIG challenge especially if those photos are stored away and no one has looked at them in years.
- You know your photos are stored safely. Have you ever found a photo but it was damaged because of the lack of appropriate storage and organization? Or maybe it was just forever lost.
All of these have happened to me and it is so frustrating!! So I’m challenging myself (and you) to choose to make time to work on organizing your photos.
How to "start" organizing photos?
Sometimes dancing around a project in a productive way can help. It delays without wasting time. Tell me I’m not the only one that does this please!!!
1. Decide where you are going to work. Photo Party Central! Put up a sign if it helps!
Warn your family to keep away. If you have pets or small children find a way to protect your photos from their “help” (ie shut the door on a spare bedroom, cover the photos that are spread out with a sheet to keep pets from laying on the or have boxes with lids on a shelf to prevent little fingers from helping)
2. Create an check list to track your progress. Make your own or download my FREE Photo Inventory!
3. Make a list of where you “think” there are photos hiding. This helps with feeling like you accomplished something! Crossing things off a list is a big reward for me.
Do it in red if it helps. Just kidding—kinda.
4. Look at your calendar. I know this seems funky but if you don’t choose WHEN you are going to work on the challenge then I WON’T happen. It doesn’t seem urgent so it will get put at the bottom of your to-do list. It does not need to be a whole day. 30 minutes here, an hour there will get you moving in the right direction.
You can't get started until you gather your photos!
It is time for the challenge!
I've geared the assignments to be simple. This whole project might feel overwhelming due to the number of photos you are handling.
Your "homework" will be simple.
We have a saying in our house. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
Huge projects need to be broken down in to manageable steps. If you can't think about bringing ALL your photos together at once, just find one box and put it in your work space. Then later get another box. Repeat this over the next week as you have time.
Overwhelmed? Don't even open the boxes! Just put them together. They will be happier that way!
Next week we will tackle sorting. But if you are excited and want to get started, go ahead and sort in a broad general way (by child or event). Do NOT stress about getting it all in chronological order!!!
Encouragement & Accountability
Put a comment up here or on our Facebook page when you start or when you finish because I would love to celebrate with you!
I've set aside time on Sunday afternoon to work on gathering my photos together. I will be posting photos of my progress on Facebook. I invite you to do the same! Celebrating together helps when you are working on a BIG project!
Share this challenge with your friends. Moral support provides more motivation for us all!
The following video is a wonderful reminder of how lasting our photos will be. If cared for and protected they will out live us and can tell our story for generations to come. Enjoy!
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