If like me you take a lot of photos, you will have a loads littered around your house or on your phone.
Read on for practical advice on what to do with them.
Physical Photos
Physical photographs can be a chore to Declutter because the process can be a bit stop / start.
But persevere.
Once the momentum begins, you will enjoy the process.
Step 1 – Gather them all up
Gather up all your photos and split into four piles:
- Keep
- Digitise
- Give Away
- Dispose
Step 2 – The Keep Photos
Sort through and split into two further piles:
- Framing
- Put in Albums
In that moment, either put into the frames and albums and display appropriately OR go out and buy the frames and albums immediately and action!
Don’t move on to the next pile until the keep pile is completed.
Step 3 – Digitise Photos
You have the option of digitizing by:
- Scanning onto computer
- Scanning onto phone (iPhones do this)
- Put onto memory stick or CD
The benefit of digitising old photographs is that you can keep a copy and obviously dispose of the physical photo which will clear clutter.
You can either do the above three steps yourself or you can send photos off to a company and they will do the scanning for you.
With modern technology the quality of scanning yourself is just as good as sending away. It just depends if you have the time and the budget to outsource the job to a third party.
See this article on how to digitise old photos for further information:
http://www.cnet.com/uk/how-to/how-to-scan-and-archive-your-old-printed-photos
Remember once in a digital format you can easily convert into prints, posters and gifts or share with friends and family via Facebook / Flickr / Drop Box / Photobucket / Dropshots / Google Drive.
Step 4 – Give Away
There may be photos that you no longer want but other people may love: kids, grandkids or friends.
If so, gift them accordingly.
You may be lucky enough to have historic photos, if you do, research who can benefit from them.
Museums are always happy to review historic photos.
Step 5 – Recycle or Throw Away
Do not hold onto photos that don’t mean anything to you, hold bad memories or are useless.
They are clutter!
Throw out without a second thought and either recycle them or place in the rubbish.
Check with your Local Authority as to what you should do because a lot of photos can’t be recycled because of the chemicals they are coated in.
Digital Photos on Phone or Memory Card
I don’t know anyone who uses a digital camera anymore unless they are a professional photographer or camera enthusiast.
But the digital photos tend to hang round on our phones or old memory cards and may be lost in an impromptu cull due to need to clear memory space.
So sort them!
Memory Card Declutter
If like me you don’t use a digital camera anymore, it’s time to gather up the memory cards and load the photos onto your computer and dispose of the cards (and the old camera??).
Again, you can do this yourself or you can send memory cards off to a specialist company to sort for you.
Phone Photos
I bet there are hundreds!
They take up a lot of memory space, so it’s a good idea to move them off the mobile onto your computer.
Or utilize phone Apps that are available for digital photos albums.
See the link below for me information.
This is also the time to develop the photos that are your favourite ones and frame.
Finally
To make the Decluttering of photos more fun, approach it with a fun attitude.
Open and bottle of wine, invite family or friends round and reminisce about the past
Finally, the Decluttering of photos is normally a one off “big job” that once it’s done it’s done and you never have to do again except for maintenance.
Good luck!
Gemma
xx
