Begin organizing and storing your photos, videos, and other memories with this important principle:
aim for peace of mind and not perfection.
Let’s say you come across a box full of old photos and letters in a closet or an attic. You didn’t know they existed but you look more closely and see that these were love letters your grandparents wrote to each other during World War Two.
What a family memory to preserve and what a chronicle of history worth saving for future generations.
Photo by Kool Shooters
Then you think of all the other photos, VHS tapes, slide shows, and more that are on your shelves collecting dust. Plus, your phone and laptop are filled with even more memories.
Reality hits and you think about your schedule. Work. Fixing things around the house. Kids. Grandkids. Where will you find time to sort through and organize all of your files?
Make a strategy that works for you by following the next four simple steps.
Put Everything in One Safe, Secure Place–Digitally
Step 1 Gather your traditional scrapbook albums, treasured letters, and put them in one place along with the photos and videos you currently take.
The one place I use is FOREVER®, the most complete memory-keeping system available. Here’s why:
- You easily digitize all your old files from wedding albums, school photos of decades gone by and more.
- You can quickly upload your newest photos and videos from your phone, laptop, external hard drive or other electronic device.
On the FOREVER blog One Letter at a Time.
Now, your memories are safely stored. Congratulations!
See FOREVER® in action during a brief, virtual tour. My email is at the end of this post to contact me.
Using FOREVER® you bring everything together in one place called your Library.
Your files are guaranteed safe and they’re guaranteed to last for a lifetime, plus one hundred years and beyond.
I know how busy life is. My husband and I are empty nesters but I invest time visiting and caring for my mother and visiting my children and their families out of state.
Step 2 Preserve your most meaningful memories.
The reality is with all of the dozens of photos and videos we can take almost instantly that you don’t need to save absolutely everything.
FOREVER® makes it easy to see at a glance all of your duplicate photos, blurry shots, and videos you don’t need. It’s easy to scan your Library and take inventory.
Now, you can delete the photos and videos you don’t need … with confidence. Yes, clear things out.
Step 3 Create albums and tags
My main album, Travel Memories, has sub-albums or nested albums
Your photos remain stored in your Library and now you’re going to create Albums that make sense to you, your family, and future generations.
Tags can be names of people like your kids, names of places like home or favorite vacation spots.
It’s easy to begin selecting photos from your Library and moving them into Albums.
There are other great benefits with FOREVER® like making photo books from your digital files and researching your family’s history.
My parents’ family photos organized in their FOREVER account
Step 4 Enjoy the peace of mind
Once your memories are uploaded and stored in FOREVER® you have peace of mind that they’re not going to get lost, ruined from floods or fires at home, or damaged when an electronic device like a thumb drive or computer hard drive crashes or gets corrupted.
Now, are they perfectly organized? Not likely. That’s an ongoing process.
I let people know the truth that accounts of my clients and photo coaching colleagues aren’t perfectly organized, BUT we do know our photos are safe.
We don’t have to worry about our phone getting lost or failing, our computer or hard drives crashing or because our photos and videos that are meaningful to us are all preserved in our FOREVER account.
Organizing will come and you’ll find that you can do it little by little while waiting for appointments or for a little bit after dinner.
Aim for peace of mind knowing that your most meaningful memories are safe even if they’re not perfectly arranged.
If you don’t want to lose important photos and videos, let’s chat, message me and we’ll make a plan to be sure that the files that are important to you are safe and secure.
2 Easy Ways to Get Started
- Try FOREVER® with 2 free GB of storage space. You’ll see how your Library works and how to create Albums and Tags.
- Tour FOREVER® with me virtually. It only takes about 20 minutes and you’ll see the many benefits in action.
Contact me via the form on my website or email me:
melody@safeguardyourmemories.com
You’re also welcome to learn more during a free virtual event. Check my Events page for dates, times and topics like writing your family story.
FOREVER® offers tremendous value. You’re not just storing memories but you’re safeguarding them to be shared so future generations can continue your family’s story and build on your legacy.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
