Organizing Photos – Start on your smartphone

Organizing your photos can seem like a daunting task. Anyone who has been taking digital photos for a while will have a substantial quantity on their computer. Because taking photos has become almost second nature (thanks to smartphones) and they don’t take up physical space, organizing them may not always be a priority. However, when you find yourself searching extensively for a photo or wanting to create photo books but not knowing where to begin, it’s time to tackle photo organization.

Start with your smartphone itself – the main ‘culprit’ :). If you take many photos, of whatever, take a few minutes each day or week to remove all the ‘clutter’, and all duplicate photos. Here’s a list of photos you can quickly and easily delete:

  1. Photos of magazine articles, tips you still want to use. Like the attached photo of mine :). In the meantime, these can be deleted as I have utilized the information.
  2. Screenshots – they are usually handy at the time but become unnecessary later. On your phone, they have a separate folder, making it easy to clean up.
  3. Photos of items in a shop (to show or remember). After some time, these can be deleted.
  4. Timer shots (bursts). Pick one and discard the rest.
  5. Photos that are too dark or too light, unless they hold a special memory.
  6. Photos where you have many similar ones – for instance, sunsets.
  7. (Too) many photos of animals at the children’s farm or an outdoor event where you no longer remember who’s in them 🙂
  8. Blurred photos.
  9. Accidental photos.
  10. WhatsApp photos from others that you don’t want. If you want to prevent them from continually appearing in the photo library:
  • iPhone: Go to WhatsApp Settings, then WhatsApp Settings – Chats, and turn off ‘Save to Camera Roll.’
  • Android: Go to WhatsApp, tap the three dots in the upper right – Settings – Chats – Turn off Media Visibility.

By decluttering ‘at source’ in this way, you prevent your computer from being overwhelmed with photos. You can then gradually spend time organizing older photos. The key steps are:

  1. Gather all photos together.
  2. Backup
  3. Remove duplicates.
  4. Further clean up (keep only the best, most important ones).
  5. Organize (into yearly folders or themes).
  6. Optionally rename and add keywords (tags) to photos.

If you have questions about these last six points or want to work on them, feel free to contact me. I can assist you with:

  • DIY (Do It Yourself) – you get advice so that you can continue on your own.
  • DWY (Do It With You) – we work together.
  • DFY (Done For You) – I completes the task for you.

 

 

Safety While Travelling

Safety Tip 1: Vacation is the perfect time to back up your photos, whether you’re staying in your own country or going far away. You might think, “My photos are also in the cloud,” but things can happen there too! A cloud is not a reliable backup, especially if it’s a cloud that only synchronizes. You’re best off doing following the 3-2-1 system. Ensure you have 3 copies of your photos on 2 different media, and 1 in another location. For example, one on your computer, one on an external hard drive, and another on a different external hard drive – in another location (another house). That ‘other location’ can also be in a cloud.

Safety Tip 2: Data blocker. When you’re on a trip, you’ll be charging your phone everywhere —convenient charging stations at the airport, under your seat in the train, in hotels, at campsites, in cafes and restaurants, etc. Charging in public places carries a risk: hackers can exploit those charging spots and install spyware on your phone, and then gather various login details. It’s safer to charge as much as possible with a power bank. Even safer is to buy and use a data blocker. This is a USB plug (sometimes called a USB condom :)), which only allows the power you need to pass through, not data. There are also cable data blockers. Take a look at what they have on Bol.com.

Also, be cautious with free Wi-Fi. Hackers might be at work there too, setting up a fake network to monitor the data traffic of all connected devices.

 

clean up your e-mail box

Clean up your e-mail box. Drawers, part of object of Tejo Remy.

Whatever time of year it is – it’s always good to clean up your e-mail folders. And not only clean up, but also see if you can adjust the way that you deal with e-mails.

Do you want to clean up rigorously:
1) Create an “Old” folder and put all e-mails older than the current year there.
2) Go to that folder and sort by sender, or by subject. Keep only the most recent, or those that still contain valuable information. You can probably get rid of a lot.
3) Empty the ‘Deleted items’ folder.
4) Check the ‘Sent items’ folder. Are there any messages there for which you are still waiting for a response? Put it in a folder ‘Waiting’ – see also point 3) below.

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Relaxation by learning

Relaxation by learning. Detail of piano and music paper.

If you have a lot on your mind, it is important to be able to relax, so that you can continue to think freely. Take regular time out for relaxation. And make time for family and friends.

Relaxing and keeping your brain flexible: you can do this in many ways. In addition to walking, good dining, resting, lazing around, reading or exercising, learning something new is also a form of relaxation. You use your brain in a different way, using a different part, and it can therefore let go of the other things – and thus relax.

Examples of new things: learning to play a musical instrument (and then my choice is piano, maybe not the easiest ;)), learning another language (tip: the app Duolingo), juggling, sewing, carpentry, getting to know edible plants, etc. There are plenty to choose from! And if you want to learn something really well – the more concentrated you are, the better you learn and relax!

Extra tip: don’t give up too quickly, buckle down to something! Set a goal. My goal: within a few years I want to be able to play some beautiful or fun pieces if I should find myself in front of a piano somewhere. That will take some practice :).

Decluttering books?

Books!
Books are usually not the easiest part of decluttering a house. They belong to a part of your life, they have become part of the furnishing, they are your memory, and they form a trusted environment. But they can take up a lot of space, collect dust, and be damaged by silverfish …

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