Winter is the Perfect Time to Organize Photos

Even with the advent of the digital camera, keeping photos and images organized can be a major challenge. What to save? Print off? Share? There are those projects that get put off again and again because they seem too daunting-and organizing photos can be one of them. Other chores may be postponed because they involve many specialized supplies (tiling the bathroom) or are expensive (roofing the house) or it may just be that they take a great deal of time and space. Many of us have boxes of photos, memory cards and disks of images, not to mention tattered and worn photo albums that could all use a little attention. The thought of digging in and trying to get them all organized seems overwhelming. While you’re stuck inside during the cold, wet, frozen days of winter, however, it can be the perfect time to tackle the project of organizing all those family photos.

Instead of feeling the pull to get outside and play in the warm weather, winter may be the perfect time to designate a corner of the house or even the dining room table or the desk for the photo organization project. The weather is generally dry and climate controlled in the house and safe for sorting and filing photos. It can also be a great project to involve visiting house guests, family members or friends with as you work to get photos labeled, archived and stored. It can even be a fun project to work on while you watch movies or holiday specials.

Give yourself plenty of time and space and consider how best to archive and preserve the photos for posterity. You may even choose to take older photos and have them scanned and put onto computer disks for long-term storage and usability. Instead of trying to rush through such an organization and storage project, take the time to purchase the correct materials (photo albums, storage boxes, CDs or DVDs, etc.) and move through the archiving project with care. Many storage products go on sale after the first of the year so this could be a good, post-holiday project. There is absolutely nothing wrong with making organizing photos an entire winter-long project and moving slowly and carefully through the process–especially if you have the space and resources to dedicate to the sorting and storing part of the project. Consider making a long-term storage goal and setting up good systems to make on-going organization easier.