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Blissfully Organised Top Tips To Organise Old Tech & Digital Photos

 

With technology continually developing we are acquiring new gadgets as older devices become obsolete. It’s exciting investing in new tech but we are often reluctant about clearing out the tech that we no longer use or need. I often find bags of cables and empty tech boxes when supporting my clients with their home organisation. I am also frequently asked how to store and organise digital photos from multiple devices (phone, digital camera, iPad etc.)

Why do we hold onto old tech?

1. Nostalgia: special memory, special gift or might be of value one day
2. Might be useful one day
3. Important Data: private and valuable information stored on the device

No one has space to store unused gadgets. I wanted to share with you some of my top tips for decluttering old tech and organising digital photos.

How to Declutter Old Tech

1. Gather all your cables, old tech and empty boxes into one place. Identify which gadgets has photos that need to be downloaded
2. Remove Data: Remove any data from your old devices immediately. If you are worried about losing data, transfer to the hard drive on your computer or external hard drive
3. Download regularly: get into the habit of downloading photos from your mobile devices regularly
4. Label: when you buy new tech label the cables and store in zip lock bags. If you use a multi adaptor for current gadgets, label each plug to simplify cable management
5. Unidentified cables: put any cables into a box for review. Purge any duplicates. If you haven’t needed it in 6 months, it can go
6. Sell or recycle old gadgets: there are plenty of ways to make money from your old gadgets (depending on age of the device)
7. USB slots: if you have several gadgets charging around your home consider adding USB slots into standard plug sockets or purchase a compact multi USB charger. You can then dedicate one space for recharging. This is helpful for finding things too.

How to Organise Digital Photos

Do you have photos stored on multiple devices (phone, camera, tablet) that you would like to consolidate into a centralised filing system?

The easiest place to store photos is on your PC. However, as our photos are irreplaceable it’s also good practice to back up your photos on an external hard drive and cloud-based storage.

How do I set up a centralised filing system?

You now need to decide how you want to store your photos. For most people the simplest way is by date taken.

1. One Central file: create one central file on your PC to store all photos
2. Regular downloads: Start to get into the habit of regularly downloading photos to your PC, so that the task does not become overwhelming
3. Renaming and de-duping: the next big decision is whether you want to rename your photos. As the photos come from different devices they will have different file names. Some people like to rename them to a standard format i.e. date and keyword. Once you have them in a standard format you can go through and delete any that you don’t want
4. Multiple Devices: start to download photos from your various devices
5. Back up: an external hard drive is the most economical way to back up to a PC. You can also back up to a cloud-based service (Dropbox, Microsoft One Drive or Flickr to name but a few)

If you need support decluttering and organising the old tech in your home please contact me for further information contact me.

 

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  • Tracy has helped me many times over the years, and I think I must have known her for 10 years now! When I first contacted her I had reservations about letting someone into my home, making judgments and telling me what I should do. But Tracy's service is NOT like that at all. She did a full home audit and we chatted about what I hoped to achieve. For years I'd been frustrated by our storage area, a large room under the house which was hard to access and full of things we hadn't seen for years. We agreed to tackle it and Tracy suggested that to start with, we took everything out. I thought she was completely mad at this point. Three hours later we had done just that, assessed what was there, got rid of some of it, sorted some and made plans for the rest. It was like a massive weight had lifted from my shoulders. After that she helped me organise rooms, and filter through boxes of stuff. More recently she helped me prepare for a big move. It's always an absolute pleasure to see Tracy and she is very thoughtful in her approach. Her service is life changing and I am very grateful that I contacted Tracy all those years ago. Contact her now, you honestly won't regret it.

    thumb Clare Suttie
    June 11, 2020

  • Tracy is exceptional at what she does and is generous in what she gives. Highly recommend.

    thumb Jayne reah
    February 23, 2022

  • I first met Tracy in 2019. I live overseas and wanted to help my Mother clear a downstairs room to become a bedroom, I needed a gentle, trusted professional to complete the task after I had returned to my home. We all met and agreed upon a plan, but it was not to be as my Mother’s health deteriorated very quickly and she passed away. Although I did return to the UK a few times that year, decluttering wasn’t a priority. Then Covid put an end to my being able to return. Finally, in spring of this year, flight restrictions were lifted and I saw an opportunity to return to the UK, now faced with the task of clearing the family home. I contacted Tracy and thankfully, despite short notice, she had some free days to help me. We arranged 6 days throughout my 2 1/2 weeks to help me stay on track and motivated. Tracy helped me stay focussed and helped me believe we could achieve a fairly daunting task of going through a lifetime of memories, papers, photos and possessions. I had to be very disciplined about what was kept as whatever I chose to keep was to be shipped back to my Country. Tracy gave me time to tell a story about an item and why it made the “keeper”, or “think about it” pile, yet didn’t break stride in her work whilst listening. It was a very cathartic process. I felt like I was talking to a long time friend. She has a talent for putting you at ease, and for helping you see objects with a critical eye. Not once did I feel she was making the decision, more that she helped me verbalize my attachment, or not, and that really builds a bond of trust. After each session, I had “homework” to complete before we met again and a follow up email charting the successes of the day and the plan for the next session. As I was on my own during my stay in my family home, this could have been rather lonely, but knowing that Tracy was coming, both broke up the monotony of going through endless boxes and kept me on task such that the job was successfully completed.

    thumb Andree Stow
    May 9, 2022

  • Tracy helped my young girls and I declutter before a house move. In particular I was impressed with how Tracy got on well with the girls (7 yrs and 3 yrs) straight away and explained the sorting process simply. This has had a lastly impact on my children, getting them to appreciate you can’t keep everything!! I too enjoyed spending focused time with Tracy looking at my wardrobe. I will definitely be implementing the learnings for my clothes purchases such as reducing my tendency to buy some items in too many colour ways! Thank you Tracy for all your help. Jo

    thumb Joanna Dew
    August 25, 2020

  • Tracy is amazing. We were renovating our house and finally was able to plan some extra storage. Tracy helped us to plan out new fitted wardrobes and then came back a few months later to help me get into a system with my laundry ( one of the things as a family I find hard to keep under control! ). She is kind, non judgemental, motivational & inspirational! I would say most people could do with a bit of Blissfully Organised in their lives!

    thumb Laura Dannan
    December 14, 2020