Happy 2016, everyone!
It’s January, which means it’s #GoMonth (that’s Get Organized Month for those of you who aren’t pro organizers)!
In other words, my web traffic has doubled and search engines all over are blowin’ up with organizing queries. People are in the mood to get organized, once and for all. It’s resolution time. A chance to start over. But there is one thing no one asks about, and that is how to stay organized once the initial momentum has died down. That’s what we’ll tackle today! How do you STAY organized?
(*crickets sounding*)
Fear not, dear blog reader! I will spill the beans today!
The secret to keeping your photos organized in the long run is (drumroll, please!):
A proper WORKFLOW! Workflow, workflow, workflow!
What do I mean by that?
1. Set Aside Time to Edit Your Collection
You don’t need to keep every shot you take! If you’re like me, you’re in love with the burst feature on your iPhone and click away as much as possible to capture the perfect moment, but with that great power comes great responsibility! You MUST edit! Only 1 in 10 photos will be a keeper. So why not get rid of the bad ones? Delete the bad, worse, and the ugly! Set aside some time each week to to declutter your devices purposefully, and watch your collection go from overwhelming to manageable. Poof!
2. Import Photos to Your Hub Soon After You Take Them
Don’t wait until a few weeks later to import your photos to your hub (if you don’t know what a hub is, read this post about what it is + why you need one). Import your photos right away, or at least within a day or two. The biggest problem with photography today is that most photos never make it off the memory card, and that is the absolute best way to lose them. Don’t make that mistake! If you import them right away, you will remember when and how you took them, plus who you were with and where you went. If you are short on time, just create a new folder called “UNSORTED – DATE+PLACE+TIME+OCCASION” (or something similar) until you have a moment to go through everything. The goal is to get them off the memory card before they are forgotten! Remember – they all have to pass through your hub! Funnel them right!
3. Back Up Your Collection After Making Changes to You Hub
Any changes to your hub should be saved to ensure that you don’t have to start over from scratch, or worse, forget where you left off! Once you have imported your photos, edited the collection, and saved it all to your hub, back up that up in at least 2 different places (more if you can!). To make it easy on yourself, turn on auto-backup!
Ned more help on this?
You can find lots of resources to help you get started in the resource library, and don’t forget to sign up for my free introductory webinar!
