Organizing photos is one of the hardest projects to catch up on, and certainly to maintain. Friends and clients often tell me they’re ready to get started but just don’t know where to begin. They have years and years of photos and logically want to start at the beginning but are too overwhelmed. However, contrary to popular belief I recommend starting from the end of your collection. Whether you’re scrapbooking, making photo albums or simply organizing your thousands of prints, start from recent years and work your way backward. Here’s why:
You will get overwhelmed if you try to start from 5, 10 or 20 years ago because you can never get caught up. If you’re spending all your time organizing the past, the current moments have moved on and you’ve fallen even more behind on the present. You’ll likely get very frustrated and give up at some point.
- You’ll have much more accurate recent memories. Remembering dates, names of places/people is much easier the more recent your photos are. Capture those before they get forgotten too.
- Also, the more recent the memories, the faster you’ll organize them, which will motivate you to keep going.
