LET'S GET PERSONAL | WHY, HOW AND WHEN YOU SHOULD DOCUMENT YOURSELF

Hello again! In this little blog series, we've been reviewing the controversy surrounding documenting ourselves and talking a little bit about why we should document ourselves. You can find those posts here and here. 

In this post, I want to help address those of you who really want to do document yourself, but haven't been able to for one reason or another...

Document your bucket lists! Products shown include High Five digital scrapbook kit and journal cards by Paislee Press, plus a FREE Bucket List Journal Card you can download via my class, YOUnique, at Big Picture Classes, coming April 10th! 

I WANT TO, BUT I DON'T HAVE THE TIME

I get it. I too am a busy gal... I'm a wife, I work in real estate, run my own business on the side, blog, work on three creative teams and my husband and I are in the process of adopting a little one! There's always something going on around here.  But let's face it, just like anything else in life, if we place a priority on something, we can usually MAKE the time.

Choose a time that will fit your busy lifestyle and “make a date” with yourself to work on your project. You decide whether you’d like that to be daily, weekly, monthly or opt to document a few key notes each day/week then return to those notes at a later time to create with.

For me, my reason in making the time NOW is that I know life will always be busy. I can't sit here and say, "Oh I'll do this when my kids are older", or "when I'll have more time".  Because you know what?  The longer I wait, the more the memories fade...  And that breaks my heart.  So I'm placing a priority on this right now.  I'll do what I can, as often as I can. 

I WANT TO, BUT I HAVE OTHER MEMORY KEEPING PROJECTS UNDERWAY THAT NEED TO BE FINISHED FIRST.

If you spend all your time telling the stories of your kids, your family and those around you, then who will tell your story?  YOU HAVE A STORY TO TELL AND NO ONE CAN TELL IT BETTER THAN YOU.  

It's beautiful that you're creating scrapbooks for your family but don't forget to tell them about the person behind the scrapbook! 

In an effort to combat all those other projects that are in the works, I'm working on each project a little at a time or I'm carving out one chunk of time to knock out a whole year's album in just weeks.  I'm scaling back on the numbers of photos I'm taking currently and focusing on capturing the big moments and the specific memories (for ex. I trimmed down on how many coffee cup photos I take and focused more on the story of the day instead). I'm also journaling right now, daily or weekly, so that I have something to refer back to when I'm ready to scrap my memories...

I WANT TO, BUT I CAN'T DECIDE THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS

It’s so easy to overthink this first step.  Don't spend valuable time and energy trying to figure out a format, rather than getting your stories documented.  It is better to opt for a way that is simple and just go for it. There aren't any set rules that say you have to do only traditional scrapbook pages that are time consuming and detailed.  You can totally create a traveler's notebook, write in a journal, do a smash book, or jump around between them all! Go with whatever you're good at, whatever you enjoy and whatever fits your time constraints. It doesn't matter HOW, it just matters that it is DONE.  

In the next few posts, I'll be sharing some inspiration from other women who are currently documenting themselves and I hope they'll spark some ideas for you.  

I WANT TO, BUT I HAVE SO MANY STORIES TO TELL, I AM NOT SURE WHERE TO START. 

That's easy! Just start!  Start with RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.  

In my upcoming Big Picture Class, YOUnique, I will be sharing my entire process from getting started to gathering supplies and I offer YOU 12 fun prompts help you get going including free printable journal cards and extras to download. Plus, at the end of the class, I have a free download with more prompts!    

Want win a 30 day subscription to view my class that debuts next Monday, April 10th? 

PLUS, if you go to my post on Instagram and tag a friend, they can win too! 

Check back here in a couple of days for another post where I'll be sharing more ideas and inspiration on documenting yourself from other talented women who currently document themselves in various ways! I promise you'll love their ideas!