Sign up for our free newsletter:

 2 of 3

My motto for organization is "Easy does it." If it's easy, I does it. Chances are, you're already in the habit of doing something with your photographs. Yours may not be the ideal system, but it's easy. You don't want to introduce an elaborate new framework that's too difficult and time-consuming. Faced with a new hard solution or an old easy habit—well, the choice is obvious.

Try something just as easy as the old way, but better. Go to your local craft store and buy a 5x7x12-inch photo box. Place the box wherever you usually toss your photos. When you develop a new roll, stack the photos upright in your box. The next roll goes behind the first until the box is full. Your photos are now filed neatly and chronologically from front to back!

Now you have your system. When you have spare time and inclination, get out your old, jumbled group of photographs. Using a photo-safe pen, on the back of your photos write the who, what, where, when, and why of each to easily identify the moment. Go back to the craft store, and buy several boxes. You may need one for each year represented in the mass of memories you're tackling.

Sort the photos into the boxes labeled with the corresponding years. Now you have a box of photos labeled "College," a box labeled 1995-2000 (when you lost your camera), and three boxes labeled 2003 (when your spouse bought you that new camera). Success!

As your current photos come under control, try putting your favorite ones into an album. An easy way is to buy an album with 4x6-inch pockets. As you look at a new set of photos, pull out the highlights from that roll. Slide the chosen photos into your album and put the rest into your box. At the end of the year you'll have a way to remember all the special events you shared with your spouse. The effort is minimal and the pay off is high.

Some people like to have yearly albums; some people like theme albums. If keeping up throughout the year isn't your preference, choose one event each year to go in the album. An anniversary album chronicles how you celebrate your marriage every year. A birthday album or Christmas album captures those special couple memories. Ultimately, putting your photos in an album is a great goal. Organizing photographs in boxes makes looking back easier. But a convenient album on your shelf is a treat you can indulge in as often as you like.

next page... |  2 of 3

				Try 3 Issues of Christianity Today Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address Subscribe to Christianity Today and get 3 free trial issues. No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. If you decide you want to keep Christianity Today coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive nine more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The three trial issues are yours to keep, regardless.

RSS Feed   RSS Help