Quick Note: First up, a little news! After receiving several requests, I’ve decided to bring back both sets of my previously released photo book templates, Photobook Frenzy & Life Captured. I’m working on getting them up for sale here at Nettio Designs now with the goal of having them ready to go no later than Wednesday. Stay tuned and in the mean time enjoy my top 5 tips for capturing a week in your life below!

Week In the Life 2014 starts today and since I’ll be playing along this year, I thought I’d share a few tips I learned when I completed this project in 2011:

1) Begin with the end in mind

Picture yourself at the end of the week – What stories do you want to have captured? What photos or moments would you be disappointed if you didn’t capture? Make an extra effort to focus on those during the week.

For example for me, people shots are a must so I always make an extra effort to use my camera remote or timer to get myself and others together in photos.

2) Have a design plan in place from the start

So I hesitate to mention this because I know your first thought is going to be “Ack, it’s the start of the week and I don’t have a PLAN!” So before you go panicking on me, haha, don’t worry, there’s still time!

You don’t need to have a photo play-by-play for your week before you get started. But having a general idea of what you’d like your completed album to look like can simplify the capture process by giving you a clear focus on what you need (and don’t need to capture) whether it’s long paragraphs of journaling or full-page photos with plenty of white space for text.

3) Set yourself a deadline

Most scrapbookers seem to think the tough part of Week In the Life is the capture week. But the truth is – that’s the easy part!

The challenge comes in actually making time to finish your album.

I don’t recommend trying to create your album as you go through the week (although I know some speedy scrappers do) but I do recommend scheduling time to work on your album and setting yourself a deadline for when you want to have it done. If you leave it up to “when I have time”, it’ll just end up on top of the unfinished projects pile.

4) Embrace imperfection & avoid the comparison game

Part of the magic of Week In the Life is that it encourages you to take a close, detailed look at your everyday life. But you know what? Every day life isn’t always pretty and it certainly isn’t perfect.

So this week I challenge you to embrace the imperfections. Rather than focusing on all the things that aren’t “right”, like your bland beige walls or clutter around your house, focus on all of the bits that are amazing. And don’t let yourself get bogged down into thinking everyone else’s life/photos/story/adventures are better than yours. Your life is unique to you so for this week let’s celebrate all the awesomeness you’ve already got going on.

5) Remember the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts

Finally, say it with me: no single photo, taken or untaken, is going to make or break your album. 

Much like December Daily or Project Life, the magic of Week In the Life is not any individual photo. It is the overarching stories all of the photos tell well combined together.

So relax, have fun and figure no matter what you end up with at the end of the week, it will tell the story of a week in your life.

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