Decluttering scattered photos and videos may seem impossible when you’re pressed for time.
My advice as a photo coach is to change your mindset. Here’s how.
Forget about trying to organize everything. All at once.
Instead, organize the little things.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by clutter that’s built up over the years.
For those of us who have been parents for the past 25 to 30 years or longer, we have lots of printed pictures lying around and collections of VHS tapes, CDs, and DVDs that are no longer watched and enjoyed.
You’re also collecting photos and videos on your smartphone, right? We’ll tackle those later.
Start with the goal in mind:
Digitize your oldest memories and store them in the same place as your newest photos and videos on your smartphone.
Where’s that one place?
You’ll create digital albums like I did to store your oldest and newest memories.
Let’s go step by step.
- Gather your scattered memories
Bring all your printed photos, video tapes, audio cassettes, slide shows, letters, and more into one place like a den, bonus room, or guest bedroom. If you’re in a smaller home or apartment then dedicate a specific corner with desk and files or a container.
2. Here’s an idea. Don’t think, “I have all these photos and videos and I’ll never get through them.” Instead, focus your initial efforts on finding one specific person at a time like your mother or father.
Label envelopes with names of grandparents, parents, kids, and meaningful events like weddings and vacations.
Then sift through finding the photos of that one person. Of course, there will be duplicates.
Repeat the process.
3. Create another envelope or pile like “discards” and “likely discards.”
That’s right. You’re going to toss out memories that simply aren’t as meaningful.
Again, change your mindset if you’re afraid to toss what you don’t need.
Clutter can give a false sense of security. You might think, “All my family photos are here and I don’t want to lose important ones.” Yet, you can’t find your favorite photos and videos.
What do you toss?
Get rid of blurry photos and duplicates.
The next easiest are photos with people in them who you don’t know and simply don’t have any idea.
If you’re not ready to toss, then you can place those in a “likely discards” pile or envelope, especially if you’re going to check with relatives or friends to identify the subject.
4. After you’ve sifted through a portion of your memories, you can have them digitized the easy way by using a FOREVER® box.
Choose the size you need and ship them off to FOREVER® using prepaid postage. Your files are digitized in FOREVER®’s state-of-the-art facility just outside Green Bay, Wisconsin.
This isn’t hard but it takes a careful use of time.
Here’s an idea.
Take a month and on four Saturdays, take an hour to find all the photos and videos of one person like your mother. Then use another Saturday and another hour for your father. Use another one for one or more of your children.
In those few hours, you’ll have made tremendous progress.
This is an easy system to follow.
Digital clutter
Now, how do you handle the digital clutter that’s on your smartphone?
Use the same principles as above.
First, delete your many duplicate files.
Second, use the FOREVER® app on your phone to upload files you want to keep to your FOREVER® file.
Take a few minutes to delete files on your phone before or after you sift through your older memories. Or use your phone’s calendar to make a 5-minute appointment and delete files.
FOREVER®’s versatility
I’ve not seen a digitizing and storage solution like FOREVER®. You can:
Digitize older memories
Store new and old files permanently (ask me about the guarantee)
Print photo books and other gifts
Research your family history
Do you have questions about decluttering and digitizing?
Let’s get in touch.
How may I help you develop your system?
I truly enjoy helping families get their most prized photos, videos, and many other memories in order so you can share them and let others relive memorable moments.
FOREVER® isn’t just another company.
It offers the best digitization service in the industry and it’s the only company that guarantees your memories will be safely stored for a lifetime, plus 100 years. The company’s goal is for your files to remain safe and accessible beyond that time frame.
Get in touch and I’ll share how the FOREVER® guarantee works and why it’s so powerful.
Call me directly, if you’d like.
Email:
melody@safeguardyourmemories.com
Also, browse my Events page and see more of how to safeguard your family’s memories.
Here’s another decluttering strategy from my friend and colleague Patti LaMarr
Her Home Burned, but Her Photos, Videos, and Other Memories were Always Safe