It’s Catherine Saunders here with some tips for playing catch-up on your unfinished Project Life albums, photo projects, and memory keeping projects.

We’re making new memories every day, and as we accumulate photos and memorabilia, overwhelm can set in if we “fall behind.” I was flipping through our current pocket page album and I noticed I’d missed a chunk of our year last fall (among other things!).

I decided to spend a little time playing catch-up on this memory-keeping project. Here’s how I got started with this layout:

First, I determined what was missing from our album.

I hadn’t documented any of our fun fall experiences from last year, like the pumpkin festival, Halloween, visits from Nana and Uncle Tom, and a weekend Nick and I took away in Baden Baden.

There was a significant chunk of our year missing from the album. We had lots of memories and lots of photos to document. Rather than get overwhelmed, I got to work.

Second, I found the photos from those events.

We’d taken hundreds of pictures, but since I’m keeping our memory-keeping really minimal, I decided to just choose a few favorite photos from each event.

Picking the photos is the hardest step for me, but I’m getting better at identifying my favorites and moving on.

Third, I made a plan.

I used this worksheet to come up with a plan to catch up on this album, starting with the memories from last fall.

I kept things really simple by documenting all of these events in just one pocket page layout with a “fall” theme.

Fourth, I used photo templates and elements from paislee press to put these very different photos together in a cohesive layout.

Liz’s photo templates are a always a go-to for me. They add white space and include minimal journaling.

And her Autumn Vibes collection was a perfect fit to add some interest, lettering, and design elements to the layout. I love how the minimal designs don’t compete with the photos.

Using templates and elements from the same collection alongside just the photos really kept things looking like they went together, even when the photos were taken in different light and on different days.

Lastly, I printed the photos and journaling cards, slipped them in the pockets, and enjoyed my work!

I showed the new layout to my husband and kids and they loved seeing the pumpkin festival last year, comparing how big the kids were to a year ago, and reminiscing about when Nana and Uncle Tom visited.

Memory keeping really (really) doesn’t have to be complicated.

For me, a simple approach works well.

Your approach may be more elaborate, but as you play catch-up on your projects, remember that done is better than perfect.

It may not look exactly as you’d like, or you may not include every single memory, but having a completed page or project or photo book to flip through is better than not having anything at all.

Download a free worksheet!

If you (like me!) struggle to complete unfinished projects, check out this post.

In it I share my detailed plan to tackle unfinished projects and there’s even a free printable checklist to help you work through each unfinished project you have around the house.

What memory-keeping projects do you have hanging over your head these days? Let me know in the comments – I’d love to cheer you on 🙂

xo, Catherine

You can find me on my blog, on Instagram, or on Pinterest.

Paislee Press products used for this layout: autumn vibes templates, autumn vibes journal cards, autumn vibes elements, 4×6 photo templates vol. 1, 4×6 photo templates vol. 3, 4×6 photo templates vol. 6. Project Life pocket pages in Design B and Design A. Wood grain card from the Everyday Edition core kit by Liz.