I love a good metaphor… Let’s slice this pie and enjoy the sweet rewards!!!
May people have an assortment of memory formats- whether films, slides, printed photos, films, video tapes, flash drives, all sorts of digital memory cards and it’s crazy how quickly they collect and grow in numbers. Clutter and overwhelm are frequent occurrences in these situations.
When enough is enough and you really are sick and tired of the situation, there are strategic approaches to delegating some tasks to professionals while the owner/family are making decisions on what to keep and what excess may be tossed. My hope is that this gives you a much needed leg up in this process. This approach will keep you moving forward with the most efficiency and get you to the finish line in half the time.
This is what I do with/ for my private clients and occasionally some get started in this method and decide to hand it all off to me. Others do a periodic happy dance as they chip away with relief rolling in more and more. Let’s get this done the most effective way possible and get you back to making and enjoying memories. You’ll be sure to unlock many fun moments in the process of rediscovering and sharing older ones. Here’s the approach for a “multiple format situation”.
- Make a list of what you need to have taken care of (list media items according to location). IF they’re in more than one address, or under multiple roofs, this master list will help you decide what needs to be acquired, collected, gathered, and if not, where to begin geographically.
- Split items into two categories:
- What you can do yourself (in theory)
- What you need to outsource (don’t have the tech or space to accomplish)
- Put each category into urgency order (by aging media types, urgency for a project, consider choosing the quickest satisfaction like large items that are causing more crowding). One example is pulling together your VHS tapes and the mini video tapes and having a digitizing service performed (Delegated) while you’re sorting through larger, simpler items to organize. What will create the most space or make you feel most productive. It’s important to allow yourself the chance to feel successful early on, to continue building momentum on your task.
- Delegate some to be outsourced, so they’re being done while you’re busy with another item. Great examples are video and film conversion, bulk scanning, even scanning old albums that are falling apart and you want to capture digital images of.
- Find someone to hold you accountable… someone who is not emotionally invested in this process, who will be able to offer objectivity. A professional is going to know the right way and offer tips to keep you on track for your goal.
- Give yourself a timeline, so you can measure your progress and find satisfaction in the process. Remember a goal without a timeline is just a wish… which may or may not happen if the action doesn’t match the desire.
I hope these tips will help you and that you’ll contact me if you need help coming up with a customized plan that works for you.
Happy Reminiscing!
<3 Kris 🙂
