Getting Organized

Every New Year I make a resolution to lose weight and get organized. Okay, I'm still overweight, but I am losing. I'm also getting organized. Oh,it is so easy to go to the local office supply and buy folders and labels and boxes and containers. Then, it was even more fun to move stuff from one place to another. I'm talking about paper files and boxes and even filing cabinets. But still, the one thing I keep putting off is organizing all my photos into safe and accessible and secure files.

First, I have to do something with the cabinet full of printed photos I've collected in shoeboxes for years. I bought a scanners. I think it will take about a month to scan them in. I keep putting that chore off. Before I scan them, I need to figure out how I want to organize them. From Creative Memories I bought a Power Sort Box that holds 2600 pictures in a safe, archival quality container with dividers. Within the Power Sort Box are 4 smaller sort boxes (each holds 600 pictures)with dividers.

I realised that I must have a secure place to preserve them after they are scanned. I bought a terabyte (pretty darn big) external hard drive (still in the box). I also bought a large package of DVD (gold ones because they are suppose to last the longest.). Now I'm starting to get paranoid. What if the hard drive fails? What if a have a computer crash before I finish my project?

I've really thought this through. I bought Memory Manager 3.0 from Creative Memories. As I scan my pictures into my computer, I will place them in files on Memory Manager. Then I'll export them to my external hard drive and also send them to Creative Memories to be archived. Only then, will I remove the files from my computer. Now my photos will be available to me online, anytime and anywhere. If something happens to my external hard drive, I can retrieve them from Creative Memories.

Now, the hardest step of all...opening that first shoe box.