Raise your hand if you're like me and every so often think, "I should do something about all those photos on my phone, computer, external hard drive, etc"? I was listening to Gretchen Rubin's podcast Happier (Episode 136) this week and one of the topic discussed was photo anxiety. Anxiety related to taking, storing, organizing, and.. doing something with all these photos. I'm sure I'm not alone in this being a source of stress. Not only do I have an overwhelming number of photos but I have ton on an old computer that is on it's last legs that I need to move.
So what to do? This is something that stresses me out yet at the same time, feels somewhat trivial to be worrying about all the time so I've decided to take some steps to get this under control. Two of these I've already implemented and the last two I am working on!
1. Back-up photos frequently. We've all had that moment of panic when something happens to our phone and the threat of losing all of your photos is real. This happened to me last fall and I panicked because I hadn't backed up any photos since my son was born and was at risk of losing all of those photos. I now back up to iCloud and Google Photos. I also use Dropbox for photo storage, though it is not my favorite way to back up photos, it is still useful and gives me even more peace of mind.
2. Move photos from old computer to an external hard drive. Anyone remember Picasa? Google's photo storage before Google Photos? I was meticulously organized when I used Picasa but when that went defunct, I failed to move my photos. So now I have tons of photos on an old computer (stored in Picasa) that I can't access. Earlier this summer, I decided I would spend 30 minutes once a week, moving photos from that computer to an external hard drive. I still have plenty of photos to move but I am pleased with what I've been able to accomplish by dedicating even a little time each week to the effort. An external hard drive is also a wise choice when trying to free up space on your computer or phone.
3. Make photo books. This is obvious but good grief there are so many choices. Shutterfly confuses me and makes my head hurt. I'm considering the option where they do all of the work for you. The photo books available on Google Photos are easy but they are so boring! I've looked into Montage and Chatbooks but those both seem expensive. This has been the hardest part of the photo management process for me and I still haven't decided which way to go. My goal is to pick one by the end of this week, as I want to get started on this project before the craziness of the holidays.
4. Frame and hang photos. This also seems like an obvious thing to do with some of my photos. They're not all frameworthy but there are several that I'd love to display in my home and yet.. I don't do it! I've used Framebridge for gifts and have been very happy with the service and they make it so easy. I even have a gift certificate from last Christmas that I can use toward making this a reality. Going to do this by the end of the week, too.
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