It’s so easy to fall under the spell of disorganization.
Today was a snow day here in the Northeast. Actually, the first good one we’ve had in a while. So I decided to try and get to some things that I had started but never finished. I went down in my basement to get the next big box of family photos so I could scan them as part of my goal of having my family’s photos digitized and safe.
I’ve scanned about five large Rubbermaid-type boxes so far and there are three or four left so, no time like the present, I thought and went to have a look. I chose one, opened the lid, looked in and thought “I can’t deal with these pictures now.” They were a mess. None of them were packed in any way that made sense. It was a box of everyone’s (but mostly my own) laziness or lack of willingness to deal with.
I wanted to close the box and just leave them till the next time. Maybe I’d wait till the weekend. Or next month. Or perhaps even never. Maybe the comet will hit first or one of the photos will come to life and lead all the rest of the photos to freedom!
Anything to avoid dealing with them.
But I’m the business of scanning photos through The Scan Zone and I couldn’t act like that.
So got a bunch of Ziplocs, a magic marker, my iPod with the good earphones and made a comfortable place to sit. I started putting pictures in the most inclusive sets of subjects I could think of and went to work.
My childhood, my parents and brother, my grandparents and their contemporaries, my wife and kids and grandkid, extended family, friends, other people’s parties, vacations and the great equalizer--“miscellaneous.”
Just by doing that, I got through the box fast. In a short time, there were a series of neat, labeled bags. It didn’t matter how many photos there were because with a high-speed scanner, they could be dispatched quickly. They’d all be saved as digital files, which would be joined with other digital files I’ve made to build my family’s collection.
So here’s my advice: Go to where your pictures are with the Ziplocs and magic markers already in hand. This way, when you open the Rubbermaid or the box, you won’t be frightened by its contents’ disorganization but will instead have the antidote to the poison from the anarchy within. Get them in the bags, label them and put them back in the box. Now you’re organized and now you can get them scanned with a structure attached to them. And you won’t have to hope the comet comes in order to avoid dealing with them.
Joe Allen
The Scan Zone
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