As the hosts of our podcast DIY Photo Organising, Fiona and I have recently done a little study about why people procrastinate about their photos and what we can do to stop it.

We have definitely seen our fair share of people procrastinating about their photos over the years and – ahem … time for self-confession – we have even fallen victim to procrastinating ourselves when it comes to our very own precious photos.

Why do people procrastinate about photos?

According to our survey, 97 % said that they have procrastinated about photo management and are struggling.

The top three issues were

– deleting off phones and computers

– scanning printed photos, negatives and slides and

– creating photo books.

Given that you’re reading this right now, our guess is, that you might fall into one or multiple of those categories, too.

But why is that so? Most people will say that photos are extremely precious to them. It seems, this alone is not enough motivation though to actually manage the photos and do something with them. Let’s have a look at the top five reasons people mentioned in our survey:

1. It’s a huge project and will take forever.
2. I don’t know where to start – it’s just too overwhelming.
3. I always get distracted.
4. I need it to be perfect!
5. I’m simply avoiding it all.

Do any of these sound familiar? What are your reasons you are procrastinating about your photos?

How to finally stop procrastination about photos

Before we go into this, I’d like to encourage you to download our free e-guide. In there, you find much more information about all these suggestions and a little workbook that will help you to stay on track. Download it from here now!

1.    Establish your Goals

This first of all brings us back to our Golden Rule #2 (listen here). It is so important to know your Why. Once you know it, you can more easily establish goals that are achievable, and you can also break down a big one into several more feasible goals.

2.    Identify why you are procrastinating

There are heaps of reasons why you might be procrastinating. What are yours? Again, get the e-guide and look at the long list of reasons. I’m sure you find a few that are applicable to your situation.

3.    Create a plan of action

Now we’re talking! It’s time to plan in a bit more detail. You know your Why and your goals, you have identified why you are procrastinating. You’re going to work out a step-by-step plan including deadlines and you’ll schedule and make time to action the plan and tackle one task by one.

4.    Implement your plan

Enough talking, reading and planning … now is the time for action. Work through your plan and move your projects forward. Don’t forget, every little step is progress. Even if you take tiny steps, you’ll eventually reach your goal and we guarantee it will feel awesome!