What to do when that scrapbook has you overwhelmed (and other thoughts)

One of the topics I’ve seen a lot of lately is the feeling of being overwhelmed by scrapbooks, photos, and other memory keeping projects. Believe me, I HEAR YOU!  I am in the same boat, because when you get piles on piles on piles… well it’s all a bit much! Over the next few months you’ll be seeing some quick/easy scrapbook pages from me here because: A) I’m doing a lot of those and B) I want to share inspiration with you! I want you to feel encouraged to “just get out and do it” and have fun with it! Whatever that looks like.

It doesn’t all have to be crazy time consuming or intense! So to help share some inspiration I’m going to share a bit of a lesson from my Creative Fitness class with you here today.

Below is a SMALL excerpt from the tips/tricks/getting started page in my Creative Fitness class

I have 6 incomplete scrapbooks I’ve challenged myself to see finished in the next six weeks. Well, what my current goal looks like is this:

  • DREAM GOAL: have all open projects complete and on shelf

(then, under that “now let’s get real”):

  • Organize all photos for all current active scrapbook album projects
  • Finish NYC and Hawaii (aka the 6×8 albums)
  • Take on 2017, since it’s about 1/2 done already
  • Dig into 2016 – I believe also about 1/2 done
  • In spare time/when working on travel content work on individual Disney pages so the “past trips” album can be in progress if not wrapped up
  • Still got time? Start official 2018 album since you already have 2 pages ready for it…

As you can see I have an ideal and lofty goal – I do believe in getting the most from myself – but I also have this broken down in priorities and a realistic workflow. I will not refer to this big picture list again. Instead, from this point I will only focus on individual line items. I happen to be on #2 (finish 6×8 albums), as I felt that was a great place to start knowing in 1-2 days each with 3-5 hours on those days devoted to the albums I could be finished with them.

Why focus small first? It’s all about momentum. If I am having a terrible day and nothing is going right I look around for the tiniest things that need to be done and tackle them. I pay a bill, clear the table, fold the laundry… little things. The same can be done in your creative space as well:

  • clear your camera card
  • order photos/organize digital photo files
  • color organize your cardstock
  • check your ink pads and pens, throwing out any dried up ones
  • organize other supplies (buttons, stamps, etc)
  • punch/die cut scraps of paper
  • plan out/gather supplies for your next project

If I do a mix of small things – creative and “life” in general I feel so much better. When I’m sitting around thinking about how overwhelmed I am, well it just leads to stronger feelings of “I can’t” “I will never…” and “I just don’t have time…”

How can you get started on your “big scary” project today? 

you’ll have to join in class to read more! 

I hope that helped you – this class has been so much fun for me to make and has helped me a ton! You can find more information and register for Creative Fitness at my website.  Filled with videos, ideas, challenges, and more – this class is live now and I hope you’ll join me.

I’m now off to work on a scrapbook, and maybe a card, and reorganize some shelves if I can manage my time right!

2 thoughts on “What to do when that scrapbook has you overwhelmed (and other thoughts)”

  1. Great post May. And for anyone contemplating this class, it is fantastic! There is already a TON of materials in the classroom. I really like how May has structured the class as well – each week she challenges herself to use a colour, a product type and a colour medium. So there are tons of ideas for all sorts of projects. Plus there is a great PDF full of ideas to either use certain products, story starters, etc. And there is also a whole page of 5 minute ideas with a nice 5 minute video for each idea. So you can watch the video and do something creative in just 10 minutes!

  2. Great ideas, especially on breaking projects down to manageable tasks. Looking at a blank page always makes me uncomfortable, so building momentum is important after finally starting. Love the list of small things you can do. Last week I went through a stash of card stock scraps. I asked myself what May Flaum would do, and chucked anything that was too small to cut a shape out of. But that skinny strip would be perfect to create a stripe on a card front! Since it hasn’t, it needs to go. Now the paper feels much less overwhelming.

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