1. Write down the little things. It's easy to remember whose wedding that was or that vacation this summer, but it's not so easy to remember that joke the groom said or what the name of that restaurant that had those amazing short ribs. So, make notes. It sounds kind of silly to make notes about your life, but when it comes documenting those memories and adding captions to those photos - you're going to be glad you have them. When I was pregnant, I wrote things down on a list pad or the calendar. That worked out great. Now that my daughter is here, my iPhone's default to-do list app keeps everything in order - on the go! Figure out what works best, and take notes.
2. Get the camera out of the bag. It is so unbelievably nice to have a camera phone, especially for those amazing, spontaneous moments. But if you have a nice camera, you notice the difference between the quality in photos and you may wish you had just gotten your camera out. I am guilty of this so, so regrettably often. I'll tote my camera around like a champion, but it's always in its nice protected case. No more. I get the camera out and I hang it around my neck and over one shoulder like side saddle purse and when a photo worthy moment arises, I slip my arm through the strap and I'm taking photos. Just take it out of the bag. I promise, you'll use it and you'll be glad you did.
3. Print photos regularly. If you've taken the photos, they don't do me much good on your phone or on the computer. I have to print them. And, like I've mentioned, if I print a ton of photos at once - say, all the photos for the last 6 months - I'm going to feel pretty discouraged when I look at that stack. However, if I print photos every Friday or every other Friday, I feel that the record keeping is easier - less photos to work with, so I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and the memories are still pretty fresh. I print photos about every other week, especially when there have been special events because I just know that photos from those events seriously bulk up the amount of memory keeping I have to do.
4. Find something that keeps you motivated. Keeping motivated for me often means buying new materials to work with. I'll get really excited to use my new embellishments or new Project Life cards and I'll just want to get right to work. For this reason, I subscribe to Studio Calico's Project Life kit. Every month I get a box of cards, embellishments, and other memory keeping goodies. I set myself a rule, though. In order to use my July (or whatever month) kit goodies, I must be documenting July or later. So, in order to use my goods, I have to stay fairly current. What ever motivates you, do it and maximize that motivation.
5. Start simple, but start. When I first started my Project Life I felt super overwhelmed. I didn't know what to do with the embellishments and I thought my handwriting was horrible. I didn't want to ruin anything and I just got caught up in fear. Then one day, I just started and now I don't worry about my handwriting or the embellishments. Some days I make fancy spreads and some days I just simplify to get it done. Do what you gotta do, but do it.
6. Once you have your notes, photos printed, and you have started, KEEP GOING. Memories don't stop just because you haven't yet documented last month. Memory keeping is like the laundry - albeit more fun - it is never finished. You can finish a vacation or even a year, but there's always something else. So, set a time when you aim to sit down and work on your memory keeping. Don't set this time in stone, because then you may feel discouraged when it's just not going to happen at that time. Rearrange when you have to. If life is too crazy from dawn until dusk, set aside the documenting for a little while, but keep taking notes and printing photos. After our daughter was born I printed photos for the first time when she was just 7 days old. I had over 100 photos from just the past week. I didn't sit down to document until after she was a month old and by then I had even more photos, but I worked on it when I could and I did my best to keep notes.
Don't be discouraged. Memory keeping requires a lot of effort and the last step is the actual documenting. Figure out what works best for you and just stick to it. I have friends that do one spread for a week or one spread for an entire month. I have a problem narrowing down photos, and our daughter is so busy growing and learning new things, I worry about the spreads later and just print all the photos I want to include. That often means that it takes me 3-4 pages to document a week, but I'm good with that. I'm not worried about pages, I'm worried about preserving the memories.
If you're having trouble getting started, try out some of these tips. If they work for you, great! If not, great! Just do whatever works best for you. Some day, when you're looking back on these memories, you'll be so glad you preserved them.
currently listening to: The Police and The Private by Metric
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