Today in the Decluttering Sentimental Items series, I'm sharing tips for decluttering photos. Now this is a huge topic and I could do a whole series just on this topic (actually I did that a few years ago when I was decluttering my photos!).
I'm not going to tell you what you should keep and what you should let go of... as always, that's totally up to you. But if you're ready to declutter your photos I hope these tips will help!
Why photos are hard to let go of
Photos are VERY sentimental! I mean they represent so many memories, experiences, people, and feelings. It's our past. Our history. They are hard to let go of. Not much more to say about that.
Tips for letting go of photos
But photos can be overwhelming. They can pile up so much we don't really enjoy any of them. Which is a shame.
First of all, decide if you want to declutter digital photos or printed photos. There are some tips that overlap and some that are unique to each medium.
Here are some tips to help you declutter your digital photos (chances are, you have thousands of digital pictures you can delete!):
- Delete duplicate photos (you know those times when you used the burst button or took 37 copies of the same pose so you could get those 1 or 2 perfect shots?!). Keep the 1 or 2 great ones and declutter the rest.
- Delete blurry photos or pictures with a thumb that got in the way.
- Delete pictures that just had a temporary purpose (e.g. pics you took of items when you were shopping so you could refer to them later or show someone else).
- Remember, even though these pictures are digital and don't take up a lot of physical space in your home, they can take up a lot of space on a camera (unless you regularly copy them to your computer or the cloud and delete them from your camera). And they can become overwhelming. It's hard to enjoy your favourites when they're buried between tons of other pics you don't care about. Just like with any other items, decluttering the ones you don't want will help you treasure the best ones.
- Any time you've got a few minutes (waiting in a line, at an appointment, before a meeting, etc.) just scroll through your phone or camera and delete any you don't want. Every little bit helps. Start with the most recent pics and work your way backwards in time.
And here are some tips for decluttering printed photos:
- First, decide what your goal is for your printed photos. How do you want to enjoy your photos? In albums, scrapbooks, boxes, frames, etc.? Consider how they will be stored, how you will protect them so they last a long time, how much space they take up, etc. Or maybe you want to declutter them and then scan the ones you keep so you have digital copies.
- Once you have a plan in mind, then go through your photos and let go of any that you don't really love. They could be of people who don't remember, people you don't want to remember, places you don't recall, blurry pics, photos with heads cut off, etc.
- Back in the day, printed pics were expensive so everyone kept every picture they ever printed. But if you wouldn't bother printing it now, then why keep it? Give yourself permission to let go of whatever you no longer love.
- If you have old photos and you don't know the history of them, you can either try to find out from other family members, or, if you're not interested in knowing, you can see if other family members would like the photos you're letting go of.
- Just as with other sentimental items, search for the treasures and let go of the rest. You (and those around you) will appreciate being able to flip through a few special albums and sharing stories, rather than being overwhelmed with 28 huge albums full of pics that don't mean as much and that are buried in bins in the basement and it's a pain to dig them out to look at.
Take your time with decluttering photos. There will be lots of memories and it can be emotionally draining. But keep your goals in mind of how you want to enjoy and treasure your photos once you're done! It will help you make decisions quicker and easier.
Ways you can reuse/repurpose/display photos
Reusing and repurposing don't really apply to photos (let me know if you find some creative ways to do either of those!), but there are TONS of options for displaying your photos!
Here's a great infographic that may help you decide what you want to do with your photos:
Get the details here. It's not just for artwork :)
0 Komentar