Dear   ,  
 

Imagine 852 organizers all in one room! I learned lots of new ideas at the NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) annual conference in Baltimore last month, and will share some below, and more in the coming months. 

Thanks to those of you who requested specific information, I focused some attention this month on photo organizing, which is apparently a big challenge for many of you, and will certainly be important in the coming months with graduations, weddings, Mother's Day and Father's Day!

If you are looking for some help with clearing clutter or getting more things done, check out the classes I'm offering this week, and sign up today!  Or give me a call to help with your spring organizing.

- Maryann Murphy 

Organizing Your Photos

Do you have boxes of photos you mean to get to "someday"?  Do you have hundreds, maybe thousands, of photos in your camera or smartphone that you have never had printed? 

Many of my clients have such a collection, and just don't know where to start with getting them organized.  The Association of Professional Photo Organizers recommends that we think of our photos as helping us tell our stories.  Thought of in this way, it becomes easier to figure out how to organize them. 

What are the stories we want to tell?  The exact date of a photo may or may not matter that much to the story of our daughter's life as a dancer or our son's life as a ballplayer.  Collecting photos from various years relating to these stories, and putting them together in an interesting way, then becomes more important than putting them in the right box according to year.

Think about this when you look at your collection, and start sorting your photos by theme or category.  Some suggested themes:

• Vacations - Putting them all together in one box or album makes for great stories as you review your trips through the years.
• Hobby-related - This could be photos of flowers, quilting, or my husband's personal favorite - parking meters.  If you have a specific type of photo you love to take, consider grouping your photos together by this topic. Again, it will be easier to review them as a group than trying to find them within the piles of other photos by year.
• Holidays - I take photos of our Christmas tree, village, presents and visits to family every year, and keep them together in one little album.  It's fun to see the changes from year to year, as well as the similarities.
• By Person - By child, adult, best friend, etc.
• Pets - This is another great set of stories when you gather these photos together.
• Siblings - Group pictures of the kids, you and your siblings, etc.
• Scenery - This may be similar to vacations or hobby-related, but may be its own category as well.  Separating the scenery photos from the holidays or birthdays enables you to create beautiful albums, books, or just boxes of photos that really tell your story.

It's important to identify the specific themes or categories that work for you and your family because those stories are really why you keep your photos in the first place, aren't they?  Think about the stories you tell with your photos, start identifying themes or categories, then start sorting and watch the stories evolve! 

• Member, National Speakers Association and NSA-NE
• Chronic Disorganization Specialist, Institute for Challenging Disorganization
• Member, Mashpee Hoarding Task Force
• Chair of Education Task Force, National Association of Professional Organizers New England chapter
• President, Marion Toastmasters Club
• Secretary, American Business Woman's Association of Cape Cod

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www.maryannmurphymsw.com

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