SMART SIZE your photo collection

09 Nov SMART SIZE your photo collection

Marie Kondo’s book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up is a popular resource amongst Professional Organisers and I finally got my hands on a copy and used my newly scheduled ‘no screen time for 50 minutes before bed’ time to get stuck into it.

I got as far as page 22 where I noted this quote “A booby trap lies within the term ‘storage'” and immediately my mind switched to the similar booby trap we as Photo Organisers have identified in photo organising storage and software.

Photo Organising software and cloud storage providers spruik their programs and apps telling consumers ‘organise in no time’, ‘fast and easy’, ‘efficiency-driven solutions’ but the problem lies in, that these providers are assuming that you have the skills to navigate, use and maintain your photo collection within their programs.  Sure they will most often have short tutorials available but the majority of people we meet just don’t have the time to learn yet another program or the training is not detailed enough.  Many people that approach The Filing Fairies for help have opted into these ‘solutions’ and ended up in more of a mess than before they started.  People are understandably overwhelmed and confused and I don’t blame them.

Again I whole heartedly agree with Marie Kondo when she says “putting things away creates the illusion that the clutter problem has been solved”

So what is the solution?

You have no doubt heard us talk about organise > utilise > enjoy and an extension of that is our recommend solution

FAMILIARISE + SMART SIZE = UTILISE

When I say FAMILIARISE, what I mean is think about the tools and devices you have at hand and what is available on them.  Consider your skills and your level of comfort with navigating and operating the devices and programs.  If you know them well, there is every chance you can utilise existing applications like a manually managed folder structure which we have written about in the past (recap here).  If you are unsure you could consider booking one of our Discovery Sessions – where working at your own unique pace we can help you identify what you are most familiar and comfortable with and come up with a plan of action to suit your skills and needs.

Downsizing is quite the buzz word in our industry and while a certain amount of downsizing can be applied to an existing photo collection. We think it is more important to be intentional with your photo taking and SMART SIZE.   Again back to Marie Kondo “we need to exercise self- control and resist storing our belongings until we have finished identifying what we really want and need to keep” well Marie – this is exactly what we often talk about in the ‘observe and purge’ phase of our digital photo maintenance guideline The MOONwalk, it is important to do this regularly (we suggest at least monthly) to ensure you are not overwhelmed by random selfies, foot photos and seafood platters.  Better still smart size your photo collection by being INTENTIONAL and think before you snap.