5 Reasons Why You Should Organize Your Photos in January

It’s a New Year! If that’s not a reason to celebrate I don’t know what is. Its been a hard few years on all of us and that means some of the smaller upkeep tasks have fallen to the wayside.

If we’ve learned anything from the past few years it’s that family really is what holds us together. And if you’re anything like me you’ve spent A LOT of time with your family. More family time = More photos! But let’s not let these memories sit on your phone. January is the perfect time to sit down and turn your favorite memories into something tangible, like a photo album. As you plan out the year you can incorporate photo organizing into your resolutions. I’ve compiled five tips on how to get and stay photo-organized for the year ahead!

1. START SMALL - Sometimes what holds us back the overwhelm of the entire project. Break it down and start small. Start with December. You can easily do this by using the heart or star icon to favorite your images. Or, create a December album on your phone of your best images from the month. This way when it’s time to create something tangible, you already have all of your favorites in one place to choose from. The feeling of just organizing one month will motivate you to keep going.

2. ORGANIZE AS YOU GO - If you plan ahead now to keep on top of your photos throughout the year you’ll save yourself time in the long run! Get in a groove what works for you and set aside that time to go through your photos. Is it once day, once a week, or once a month? Whatever works for you! Find your system and stick to it.

3. USE Mixbook - Find a website that works for you and stick with it! I personally use a trusted website like Mixbook which allows me to quickly and easily create albums. I can also save my favorite album design year after year which saves me time. There are so many options so find one that works for you!

4. GET BACKUP - Take time to understand where your photos are saved and how to access them. Do you use a cloud based storage system? If so, find your password and login so you can make sure your photos are actually where you think they are. If you have photos in multiple locations, save them all to an external hard drive so you know where they are. Taking the time to focus on just this simple task will give you a huge feeling of relief.

5. HAVE A SYSTEM - Coming up with a plan and sticking to it is key to taking control of digital disorder. I created a Library Folder System for my own family photos (and I give this to you in my Legacy Photo Lab course!). Having a system means I have one location and one process to follow at all times so I always know exactly where to put and find my image files.

To learn more about my process check out THE LEGACY PHOTO LAB course where I take you step by step through the a digital photo organization and family album creation process. Or, if you’d like a professional to handle it all for you, I also offer Digital Organization Services and you can read more about it here!