Ask a Productivity Expert: When Precious Memories Become a Burden

By Erica Duran

Question: Hello! I really enjoyed our phone session last week! I am seeing shifts already in how I go about my projects!

What I want to ask is what do I do with all my old paper photos and movie tapes? I love being able to search and share photos digitally in my computer, but I have so many old photos in boxes and I really don't want to be a scanner jockey for the next five years converting them over.

Productivity Expert's Answer: Hi! Glad you are seeing results from the call! I think the Critical Path Timeline we created is going to transform your marketing process. As for the photos and movies, I have a confession to make... this is the one area in my own life that I have the most trouble de-cluttering. I am very fond of past experiences that make up my memories and love to capture everything in photos. But, finally last year I was able to put a process in place to get these memories digitized, protected, and shareable. Not-to-mention I got back about a 6 foot by 3 foot closet space that was storing all the photo boxes. And, remember, digital photos can become clutter to in your computer files.

Here is what I would suggest for all the different mediums of photos:

Paper Photos:

One of the phrases we often hear from people is "I really need to figure out how to organize photos... I have SO many photos that I've been meaning to organize for YEARS!"

And they're seriously stressed about it.

Let's get rid of that stress right now. Sound good?

Repeat after me: "Photos are not sacred."Go ahead, it's really OK to say it. "Photos are not sacred."

You are not creating the National Archives. You CAN throw some of your photos away if you don't like them, and you can (gasp!) save them without putting them in photo albums or creating fancy scrapbooks if you want to. Scrapbooks and albums are great... but not at the cost of your peace of mind. Also, all the supplies can be quite costly, the photos are not as protected and they are harder to share, and just think of all that space you will clear up clearing out all those scrapbooking tools and freeing yourself from those guilt-inducing projects! You can store them very simply. Or you can be elaborate. Just don't be stressed about it.

They are just photos.

Enjoy them, let them make you happy, and have fun with them. Let's look at how to organize photos in a way that really works for you.

First of all, keep only the photos that you really love, with people you enjoy and memories that make you smile.

Get Rid of Photos:

• That are blurry, have people with red eyes, or with half the person cut off
• That remind you of unhappy times or unhappy relationships
• That you can't remember the people, the place, etc.
• Too many of a similar shot (keep the best, toss the rest)
• Where you don't like how you look
• That make you feel bad or upset or fat or whatever

It is also much better to learn how to organize photos very simply (and actually DO it) than not at all.

After you get rid of all the photos with the above criteria, almost all photos now-a-days are digital and can be easily backed up. Why are you holding onto paper photos that fade, deteriorate and can be lost or destroyed?

The first thing you need to do is get these old paper photos scanned as soon as possible! Worry about organizing them later! The only photos that should be kept in the paper format are the ones you will frame and display around your home or office. Even then you must make the commitment to frame and hang them soon! Do not hold on to paper photos and empty frames that you have been meaning to frame and display!

There are companies out there that transform shoeboxes of photos and movies into digital formats that make it easier to organize, share, and enjoy. Remember when we said you need to get rid of some photos? Well, here is another good reason why you should toss the ones you don't like - these services will be a bigger investment if you scan every photo you have - good or bad.

Here's how to organize photos the easy way:

Round up your photos in one place. You've probably got them stashed in drawers, some in albums, some in the basement, get them all in one place so you can see what you've got.

1. Sort them: Sort by category (whatever makes sense to you - keep this simple). Toss as many as you can as you go, sorting by person, year, event, or location. For speedy sorting, sort into piles, large envelopes, a plastic bin or recipe box with tabs that you can label, or in manila folders.
2. Choose a system to EASILY store and protect your photos while they are in the process of being scanned. Now that you can see what you've got, you can decide what organizers you'll need. Choose a VERY simple way to keep your photos. The easiest, fastest way to sort, store, and keep up with your photos while they are in the process of being scanned, is to use acid-free photo storage boxes or envelopes. You use tabs to label each category within the storage box or envelope. It's also a good idea to label the photos with the date, name, event, and/or location while you can still remember it.
3. Now celebrate, because you've organized your photos!
4. Then, LATER, if you decide to scan all your old photos or you want to create scrapbooks or albums at your leisure, feel free. Give yourself a break if you think you should be making scrapbook albums but don't have the time just now. Organize and protect your photos first, and give yourself permission to save the option to create scrapbooks later (if ever).
5. Maintain your new system. Whenever you process a new roll of film (if you will ever take paper photos again), get in the habit of labeling and storing photos in your photo box right away or sending them off to be scanned.

Digital Photos:

Learning how to organize digital photos is becoming more and more important; it is so easy to take them that we can end up with literally thousands of photos!

Too many photos end up being clutter and too hard to sift through when you are looking for that one special photo. We're going to go through the simplest, lowest possible technical way (and extremely effective) to sort and organize your digital photos on your computer. There are a lot of software, tools, etc. available as well, so if you want to explore them, a couple of good ones are Picasa free from Google and iPhoto for Mac (you can do basic editing and organizing on both). My suggestion is do the easy sort first, and then if you want to get fancy, go right ahead.

Here's how to organize digital photos the easy way:

1. Your best tool for handling your digital photos is your delete key. Be liberal in your use of the delete key.
2. Gather your digital photos together. Transfer photos from all of your cameras to your computer into one program or folder on your computer to start.
3. Decide how you want to sort your photos. Create a folder structure, organizing the pictures first by year and month, then by event or person. For large events, such as weddings, you may need subfolders (example: 2008 June - Mary's Wedding for the main folder, Reception, Wedding, Opening Gifts, etc. for subfolders). Keep it really simple, so it will be easy to find the photos you're looking for.
4. On a Mac the photos will automatically get organized by date and event by iPhoto when you hook up your camera or iPhone to your Mac.
5. Sort photos and move into the appropriate folders. For example, you would move all of the photos related to "2009 Thanksgiving" to that folder. Do this sort step fairly quickly. Don't stop to label each individual photo (leave this until later), or reminisce. And remember to delete as many photos as you can. Once you have completed this step, celebrate. Your digital photos are all sorted and organized!!
6. Once you have sorted all of the photos into folders (deleting as many as you can), you can go back and label individual photos if you want (it's a good idea). Give each photo a descriptive label, and use the same format each time. For example: 2008 June 23 Mary's Wedding Dress.
7. Back up your photos regularly to an external hard drive and/or virtual cloud.

Home Movies:

Basically, the same concepts and rules apply for home movies as photos. Except home movies are usually viewed even less often than photographs! This is a real shame since home movies have not only the sights, but sounds and voices to really bring back the memories.

If you have any old 8mm, VHS, Slides, Digital 8, Betamax, hi8, MiniDV, VHS-C, Super 8, 16mm in a shoebox somewhere get them converted into a digital format NOW!!!!

If you have to squeeze reformatting all your memories into your busy schedule we are afraid it just won't get done. Better to use a professional service for transferring your movies to a digital format too.

After you movies are converted to a digital format it will be even easier to edit them using the iMovie software on your Mac or the online editing software that ScanDigital provides. Use the same criteria when editing a home movie as you did when you "edited" your paper and digital photos:

Editing Home Movies:

• That are blurry or the film is not steady enough
• That remind you of unhappy times or unhappy relationships
• That you can't remember the people, the place, etc.
• Too many of a similar shot (keep the best, toss the rest)
• Where you don't like how you look
• That make you feel bad or upset or fat or whatever
• That are just plain boring and you and/or your friends would not enjoy watching them

Editing movies is a bit of a project, you will have to make a point to carve out some free time in your schedule. Maybe over a weekend? Maybe work at it for an hour on those days that you don't go to the gym? Maybe on a holiday where there is not much going on like Presidents' day? Just know that you will have to make an appointment with yourself to get each movie or event done.

Now that you have all your movies converted and edited they will be MUCH easier to enjoy and share!

But, what about the endless amount of film coming in?

Now that most people have digital video recorders even on their smart phones there is more film than ever to go through because it is so easy and inexpensive (no developing costs).

The next time you think you will want to film an event or vacation or anything else, give it some thought. Sometimes it is just better enjoying the moment than fussing with a camera.

But, if you do decide that this is a film worthy activity - be sure to get the movie off your camera and into your computer to edit as soon as possible!!! When you get home from vacation or the event is when this activity will be the most fun and you will be able to make the best movie because it is still fresh in your mind. Later, when you return to reality, editing the film often becomes a chore.

Lastly, remember that life is happening constantly and you don't want to cause yourself stress or miss what is happening today while you are archiving the past.

Erica Duran is a Productivity Expert and Certified Professional Organizer (CPO®). At Erica Duran International (http://www.ericaduran.co), she provides both virtual and in-person coaching around the globe through her programs, courses, and products. Erica mostly attracts women entrepreneurs and business owners. She helps them to clear the clutter in their lives at ALL levels, gets them out of just being "busy" and "overwhelmed" and into a calm, flowing, and balanced lifestyle.
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