Digital Scrapbooking 101

Another Reason I LOVE My Photo Library...My Kid Thinks I'm Magical!

Friday morning dawned with a sleep-deprived mom at our house (yes that's me) and five kids hurrying to go to school. Ten minutes before the elementary group was supposed to walk out the door, my 1st grader shows me his "four things cup" that needs to be filled with four things about him - oh and he wants pictures.

I didn't stress one bit. I fired up my Mac, opened Lightroom, searched for items with his name (keyword) and then keywords for what he wanted to share with his class.  I then selected four photos as picks, went to the print module, dragged them into a Lightroom print template, and printed.  

I literally went from request to printed photos in less than five minutes.  My kid thinks I'm magical...in reality all I did was take advantage of technology to save me time and energy. 

Oh, and I'm taking that "magical mom" title thing as far as I can.  He'll be a teenager in a blink and I'll probably need these "magical mom" memories to get me through.

Do you want to be a "magical mom" too?  Sign up to be the first to know about the next round of Finding Photo Flow here.  Learn more about Finding Photo Flow here.

True Confessions

Some days my download folder looks like this (especially after a BIG sale at my favorite designer's store):

You might think because I teach digital asset organization, my library is perfect.  Not so. ☺  Just like everyone else my life gets busy, I take on projects and I let things slide.

However, just because I slide doesn’t mean I don’t have a way back to organized.  Staying organized is a little like laundry.  Just because you finish doesn't mean there won't be more piling up tomorrow. 

We live in the digital age.  There’s always going to be something else to download - photos from friends, inspiration, freebies, new kits and programs.  And that’s just my download folder - how about yours?

I have a lot of tools in my tool box that I use to get things back on track and I share them more in depth in my classes and newsletter.  Today I’m going to share a sampling of one of my favorites.  It’s called 

So many write me to say, “I don’t have the time...”  With The Power of 20 I'd say you have more than you realize.

Here are the basic guidelines:

• Set aside 20 minutes 

• Close your internet browser (unless required for your task - in that case stay locked to one page).

• Shut down your email.

• Turn off your phone.

• Shut down all social network applications.

Work toward your goal.  It may feel like you don’t accomplish much, but over time these little things add up and before you know it, you’ve built your own personal haystack one bale at a time.

Try it.  Come back and share what you accomplish.  Looking for more tips and tools?  Don't forget to sign up for our newsletter here. 

 

Want To Be More Creative? Just Organize!

I was listening to the Work Awesome podcast the other day and heard this gem from guest David Allen:

"I've always been fascinated by how to make things easier...my stuff is about 'how do you get stuff done between here and there,' for which organizing is a key component, but it's very easy to over organize and to lose productivity and freedom by having too much structure." 

"In other words, too controlled is out of control because you don't have flexibility or spontanaeity, which are critical elements for being able to stay in control in the larger game.  I'm into tips and tricks and what are the tricks that allow us to get things done with as little as effort as possible."

Since I am in the middle of teaching a Lightroom class which has a lot to do with organizing, the "it's very easy to over organize and to lose productivity and freedom by having too much structure" really stood out to me.

With my supplies, I know there are more things I could refine with organizing but I let it go because what I have is more organized than I've ever been and it is working to produce the desired result of allowing me to scrapbook with as little effort as possible.  It's made me faster which has also increased my desire to create.

This Lightroom Class is all about sharing the tips and tricks of how to do things easier and faster in Lightroom so you have time for far more important things.  The blessings of technology allow you to organize and find things with much less effort than ever before - it's my job to teach you the how-to's.

I realize that for every student feeling "organized" will happen at different levels.  So as you look at the tips and tricks shared, you are encouraged to pick and choose what tools will help you get to your vision of "organized" in the fastest and easiest way possible.  Make it your own.  Do what works for you and adapt it as needed. 

I also can tell you from experience that as you work on organizing anything - be it your computer files, digital supplies, closets, drawers, etc.  you will have several creative ideas come to you. 

Just this week I cleaned out our master bathroom cabinets and drawers, it took me the better part of two hours - but when I was done it felt great! Even better - in the process of organizing, I had several creative ideas come to me.  It never ceases to amaze me how organizing things gives me creative energy.  I don't know how it works - it just does.

So I have one idea for you all - think about one undone task that isn't terribly pressing - that is causing you subliminal stress - i.e. a junk drawer or closet that needs to be cleaned, a car that needs to be washed, getting your hair done or eyebrows waxed or backing up your hard drive.  Seriously - just one thing - and do it.  Or mark time on your schedule this week to do it - get it off your list.

You could even write the first ten things that come to your mind today and write those down.  Then schedule time out to get them taken care of in the next week or month.

It might sound crazy, but I promise you from personal experience, crossing those items off your list will free your mind up to be a better scrapbooker.  Your creativity will flourish and quite frankly you will just be happier.

What do you think?  Care to share in the comments?  I'd also love to know how things are going for you in the Lightroom class.  Progress reports anyone? :)

P.S. - The title from this post was inspired by a dear friend who once told me in an ABC scrapbok (circa 2000) that my middle name stands for Just Organize...  At the time I had recently come home to be with my kids after years of living a crazy 60 hour plus work week as a mortgage lender.  This was also the year my mom came and helped me organize my kitchen.  Getting my life and house organized seemed to take forever that year but it was good preparation for the twin girls who would join our home in 2001.

Just in case you were wondering - another blast from the past in this layout - stamps from CTMH.  It's hard for me to believe that in my past creative life I was an avid stamper and even taught others.  Crazy how things change - I don't have one stamp outside my collection and ten years ago I had drawers and drawers of them!

A Few Organizing Items (Real-Life)

With January here, I am so motivated to get things organized!  Yes this extends beyond my digital supplies and photos right into my home. 

I took a break from curriculum this weekend to spend some time with my kids and Troy - wrapping it up with a day of organizing in my office. 

The amazing thing was if you saw my office and all my piles of files - it was overwhelming.  So much so that every time I came in here I was wondering what I had forgotten.  My life has been so busy the past six months I had let a lot of things slide.  I knew getting rid of that nagging feeling had to start with organizing the files in my office.  So yesterday afternoon, I did it.

The crazy thing is it took just a few hours, but I went through every paper, every item.  I have been a fan of Getting Things Done for a few years now.  Keep in mind that I progress with things pretty slowly - especially when it comes to making permanent change.  In the past few years I have finally mastered keeping my email inbox to zero.  However, when it came to my office inbox, it was a scary place.

  One of the tools I have been using for keeping my email inbox to zero is Omnifocus.  I have it on both my Mac and also my iPhone (they sync with each other via Mobile Me). 

When I get an email in that I can't respond to quickly, I just press CMD+SHIFT+E on my keyboard (you set this up in preferences), which opens a new item in Omnifocus and copies my entire email in the notes of that item.  I just click Save and then it is done.  This is especially helpful with large projects that I do a lot of email on - I have a reference folder under the project and just move the email in there.  This allows me to keep emails organized - no more searching Google for the exact email related to a specific item when I have a question!

If you've ever read Getting Things Done (I highly recommend the audio version here), you know that one of the first steps to getting things done is cleaning out the physical files in your office.  It is about processing those items and deciding what your next step is.  As I went through all my files yesterday I questioned why I hadn't done it sooner! 

A few of my most-used tools for this are a label machine, a steady supply of file folders and Omnifocus.  Quite honestly most of the work I did yesterday was all about making new file folders for reference items.  The other was taking little things - receipts to be scanned, Christmas cards with wrong addresses, car registration reminders - and entering them in as TO-DO items in Omnifocus.  I then stored the item in a Misc. To-Do folder so when I am ready to approach the item I know exactly where to find the supporting materials.

Another piece of Getting Thing Done is organizing your tasks not only by due date but also by context.  So if I am sitting at my Mac and I have an hour, I can look at my list in Omnifocus and literally pick off and complete tasks that are out there with the context of Mac.  When I run errands (on my list for today after this post) if I have extra time I can knock some of the extra items off my list.

 There is also a project module where I have everything built out for my curriculum on my class and things to do to get there along with other projects I am working on.

My goal this week is to focus on keeping my inboxes (both email and desk) to zero.  I realized last night as I finished the last file that things seem manageable now because I know what all those papers mean and I know what I have to do and I can do it in segments here and there.

One last thing, in the past year I have started scanning in all my important receipts for tax items.  I found this amazing software that I use with my personal scanner (you can also purchase a scanner and software from them).  NeatWorks has been an amazing help with my taxes.

I dedicate just a few minutes each week to scanning my receipts (the software has OCR so most of the time it reads the receipt and populates the database for me).  I then add categories and sort things out in folders based on business, home improvement, etc.  The great thing is when tax time rolls around, I have all the amounts I need along with the ability to print a PDF report or physical print report with the list of itemized items and pictures of the receipts right next to them.

This has been invaluable to me because most store receipts these days fade in just a few months - which is a complete nightmare for the small business owner.  I love that I can stay on top of this with technology.

So there you have it - a few things that are helping me get things done and stay organized. I'm always on the lookout for other things - so how about it - what keeps you organized in your life?