I know, you’re overwhelmed by just the headline of this post – Photographs. Sometimes, I feel the same way despite having a pretty good handle on my photo collection. But in this digital time, photo taking is constant. Volume increases daily. Keeping ahead of it is difficult.
I wrote a detailed post about how to handle both paper and digital photographs, but I want to offer some tips and a challenge for today and what seems like an impossible task. Like many areas of clutter, it starts with creating new habits.
Decluttering Challenge Day 27
Delete – Delete photos each time you snap a few shots. How often do we take several versions of the exact same view to be sure we got the best one? Only to never delete the terrible ones? Going forward, keep just the very best photograph of each event. Delete in real-time.
Delete Some More – In honor of Day 27, delete at least 27 bad photos from your phone. Start with the easy ones, like the grocery store picture sent to your spouse confirming the correct brand of soap detergent. Then, move on to duplicates, think first day of school, prom, Halloween, Christmas etc. Curate to the best of the best. Try doing this exercise when you’re using your phone to kill time. Instead of mindless scrolling at soccer practice, use the time to delete more photos. Be productive with the smallest window of time.
Download Photos – Grab your smart phones and digital cameras. Download the photos to your computer or back them up directly to a cloud service. If you haven’t done this in a while, do so today! It doesn’t matter which service you use, do you homework and choose the one that works best for you. Read more here. I suggest sticking with one service for simplicity.
Paper Photographs – If you still have shoeboxes of photographs to go through, this post will help you get started. In it, I recommend a service called ScanMyPhotos. With my box of 1,800 photos, I had a great experience! Being in business for over 25 years, know that they take great care of photographs. The pre-paid box is good for 6 months and includes shipping to and from their facility. I found the deadline to be a great motivator. Also, Simply Enough readers receive a special coupon code for 10% off all orders, just use the coupon code VIP during check out.
Do you struggle with paper photographs or digital photo clutter? Or both? Let me know if I can help.
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