Let me just start off by saying that this is not a sponsored post! I have nothing against them but I just wanted you to know up front that I have no personal gain from this post other than to share what I have learned and to brag a little. So, let’s dive in shall we?!
The project that I have FINALLY finished is the task of organizing all of my photographs. If I could add confetti to this announcement I would! I have spent so much time thinking about the black abyss that my Shutterfly account had become that I really felt like I would never be able to get a handle on all of the photos. I finally gave myself a deadline and decided that I would not touch my computer unless it was to log into my Shutterfly account. I have talked to enough of my friends to know that I was not alone in my picture avalanche so I thought I would share how I dove in, organized, and finally have a plan to manage my photos.
The reason I procrastinated so long was because I knew there were probably close to 20,000 photos that had piled up over the years. I started my account around 2004, when we got married, and for the first couple of years I was super organized. I regularly uploaded and ordered photos. I had them all in neat little labeled albums and I immediately put them into photo albums when they arrived. A couple of key things to remember about this phase of life: we didn’t have iPhone pictures yet and we didn’t have kids.
With my first child I still kept up pretty well but soon we added more kids, phone pictures, and slowly my Shutterfly account became something I ignored. When I did upload I did it in mass quantities. I would upload all of my phone pictures to my computer and then dump those along with anything on my hard drive into Shutterfly. I always promised I would come right back to it and sort the pictures but it didn’t happen. Up until this month, when I logged into my account I would see folders that I had lovingly labeled “massive upload Aug 2013-Aug 2015” The mere thought of going through all of those sent shivers down my spine so I would just close it and forget it. In a typical year I had taken 2,000-3,000 photos. #damniPhones
So how did I dig out? Here is the plan I came up with…
Give Yourself A Deadline
Each year my mother-in-law requests a photo calendar so when she put it on her wishlist this year I took the opportunity to force myself into this project. I asked her if I could please have until January 10th. I marked that date on my calendar and, as I said before, I would not allow myself to open my computer unless it was to go through photos. I recommend giving yourself a pretty substantial chunk of time, depending on how many years behind you are. I gave myself about 4 weeks.
Each year my mother-in-law requests a photo calendar so when she put it on her wishlist this year I took the opportunity to force myself into this project. I asked her if I could please have until January 10th. I marked that date on my calendar and, as I said before, I would not allow myself to open my computer unless it was to go through photos. I recommend giving yourself a pretty substantial chunk of time, depending on how many years behind you are. I gave myself about 4 weeks.
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Divide and Conquer
In the early days I would upload pictures and save them in really specific albums like, “Easter 2004.” This was creating way too many folders so I decided to simplify. I made an album for each year and within each year I have 4 subcategories: Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall.
I designated these months for each season:
Sort
As I went through uploaded images I could quickly move them to the appropriate folder. I also took the time to delete duplicates or bad pictures. It took extra time but I wanted things truly cleaned up. I also made additional folders for photos of just Taylor and I, friends, and house pictures since I have a ton due to the blog.
On-going deadlines
I don’t want to ever fall so far behind with my photos again so I have set up a plan to stay on top of it all. I set my phone alarm for each Sunday as a reminder to upload my phone pictures to Shutterfly. I have the app so I can quickly upload them directly to my account. I am sure other photo storing sites have something similar. I don’t take as many photos with my actual camera so I am only uploading those the third Sunday of each month. I have these reminders written in my planner as well. When I upload the photos I am immediately dispersing them to their correct album/season. In addition to this I am setting reminders for once a quarter as well. I went through my planner and on the last day every third month I am going to create a photo book for that season. I also really like having actual photos in albums so I am planning to order prints at that time too.
*Pay for a little help
This is certainly not a required part of the plan but I thought it was worth mentioning. Since I like having actual photos in albums that creates an extra step. My photo books are just going to be a select group of photos highlighting that season so I want to have even more within my albums. This is another monotonous task and one that I have gladly handed over to my babysitter. Luckily Shutterfly marks each photo with a date stamp on the back so I just hand her a pile and ask her to put them in in order. I pay her the same hourly rate I would to babysit and she has them done in no time! Totally money well spent in my book but I am sure some of you could even bribe an older child or grandma to help out!
So there you have it…the project that will have me sleeping better at night. I can finally rest easy knowing that I have actual proof of my kids’ childhoods. I also don’t have that pit in my stomach when I take new photos now because I know they aren’t just being added to a disorganized pile!
What are your tips for photos storage and organization? I am sure there are a thousand new apps and sites that make it a breeze- I’d love to hear your favorites!
Jennifer @ Dimples and Tangles says
Ugh, the dreaded photo organization issue! Thanks for your tips, Beth. These are great!
Carrie says
I so need this! I seriously dread ordering photos, and have made it one of my goals for this year to get them organized. Thanks for the tips!
Whitney Shortt says
So need to do this! Thanks for the tips!