Hi, friends! Ali here. Leslie is such an amazing woman. I have known and loved her for well over a decade, and I have no doubt you will love her, too. I know from experience that clutter can take all forms. If you’ve ever tried to record a super important event only to find that you are out of storage space, you know how easily clutter can happen on our devices. So, Leslie has some great insights here to help us avoid these frustrating moments and to actually do something more with ALL of those photos we take! I hope she helps bring you joy.
Hi! My name is Leslie, I’m the mother of 3 (soon to be 4) kids under age 6 and I am caught up on all my children’s photo books.
Wait, what?!
It’s true! But don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t always this on top of things! When my second was born I had thousands of photos scattered between my phone and laptop.
After trial and error I finally figured out how to get my photos and videos off my phone and into the hands and hearts of my kids. And it all starts with setting up a system to keep your phone’s camera roll clear!
Here are 3 myths I hear from people ALL the time about clearing their phone’s camera roll that keep them stuck. I’m here to set the record straight!
#1 Myth: “I just wait until my phone storage is full to upload”
Truth: Set up a regular routine to preserve your memories
“My last phone died on me and I lost probably 2 years worth of photo and video. I’m good about putting pictures into chatbooks but I can’t lose my videos again! Help!”
Is this the kind of nightmare that keeps you up at night? If you’ve had the unpleasant experience of suddenly losing a phone, you know how real that possibility is. If you are lucky enough to have never experienced that yet, let’s get on top of it now so a potential loss won’t be nearly as devastating!
Instead of worrying about what footage would be lost in an accident, you can feel calm + confident with the assurance that your memories are safely OFF of your phone.
#2 Myth: It will take hours, and I don’t have the time
Truth: Start sooner rather than later-your future self will thank you!
I hear from friends and family all the time some version of:
“When it comes to decluttering + organizing, I always put pictures at the end of the list because it’s so overwhelming to even start that project.”
“Baby book? – never even started one. And my oldest is 3.5 now. I’m so behind!”
“I would love to have a yearly video made from our iphone videos, someday.”
Friend, if you are lucky enough to be reading this with only one or two young kids, let me tell you a little secret. It doesn’t get easier to find time to process your photos. I told myself it would be and I procrastinated doing anything with my photos and videos until I had so many piled up it was almost too overwhelming to even start. (Some of my mama friends with a few more years under their belt can relate!)
Starting now will only make your life easier! An imperfect today is better than any idealized tomorrow.
With your footage organized and the photo clutter out of the way, you can move past overwhelm and tap into your creative side. Getting your camera roll under control will enable you to finally make those photo books and family films you’ve always said you would get to someday.
#3. Myth: More is better when it comes to taking and keeping photos
Truth: Photos + videos that live in your phone can never be fully enjoyed
The paradox of digital family memory keeping is the more photos and videos we have, the less accessible they become.
We have 100 times more footage of them than our parents did of us but they probably look at their photos and videos way less than we did growing up. Our kids just don’t have that kind of access to their photos. If the memories don’t exist in a format independent of our phones, our kids can’t reach for them when they want to.
When it comes to deciding which pictures and clips to keep, create a museum, not an archive.
An archive contains ALL the works of a person. Every draft, every sketch, every evidence of their work. A museum, on the other hand, is merely a selection carefully curated to best depict the artist’s work.
A museum collection is diverse but distilled. It’s more powerful because you have space to immerse yourself in the handful of paintings hung instead of sifting through hundreds of drafts. The works can actually be appreciated because they are presented in small doses.
Family stories help form our identity because they tell us where we come from and how we fit into our family. Psychologists assert that “children who have a strong “family narrative” enjoy better emotional health.
Researcher Robyn Fivush of Emory University asked 48 families 20 questions about their family history. She found that:
“the more the children knew about their family story, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem and the more successfully they believed their families functioned.”
- Higher self-esteem,
- stronger sense of control,
- a happy functional family
Who wouldn’t do everything in their power to ensure those outcomes for their kids? Well, it doesn’t require a herculean effort. Creating a strong family narrative can be as simple as putting your family’s stories in front of your kids in the form of photo books and family videos.
I recently polled my audience and asked them this question:
Imagine yourself 10 years from now. How would your life be different if years before you had put your photo+video process on autopilot?
- “I would be able to enjoy the memories I have with my kids and those memories will be more solid for them.”
- “There would be more lasting and impactful memories for my children to look back on. It would be easier to keep doing since the autopilot method was instituted.”
- “Important days would be kept preserved forever.”
- “I could live without the regret of not doing it! We would have stronger family relationships from remembering the sweet times over and over.
Pretty powerful, right? You can make that a reality-your kids deserve it. You deserve it.
Not sure where to start? I got you.
Download my FREE Declutter your Phone Roadmap here:
for a step by step process I use to clear off my phone every week!
