With tomorrow being December 1st, many people will begin Document Your December (DYD around here at The Pad). Document Your December is a primarily daily project meant to capture the memories of the holiday season. Taking on a daily documenting project can be a big endeavor, and it isn’t for everyone. Let’s review the pros and cons of starting a DYD project.
Pros
- A daily documenting project like DYD can yield a lot of memories in a short amount of time. When you are done, you will essentially have 31 memories documented over the course of the month.
- Creating a DYD album can be a nice keepsake. A few years back, I created an actual album with embellishments and everything. It is still a great keepsake of all of our holiday memories from that year.
- If you have bouts of struggling with creativity, a daily documenting project can force your hand at being creative – making sure you are getting your layouts done for each day.
Cons
- Keeping up with a daily documenting project like DYD can be difficult. Especially if you struggle to find time to document your memories already, adding in a project like this will only add to that stress.
- It’s tempting to “force” memories. Every time I’ve tried a project like this, I’ve felt pressure to make sure I have a great memory to document each day. That can be hard, somedays there just isn’t anything memorable to document.
- With all of the amazing products created solely for this project, it can be overwhelming trying to decide what to use and how it should look.
It can be helpful, before embarking on a project like this to ask yourself these questions:
- Do I have the time to devote to this project?
- Will I be upset if I don’t complete this project?
- Do I have enough material/memories to fill out this project?
- Does this fit with my larger memory keeping goals?
If you decide that a daily documenting project like DYD isn’t for you, here are some ideas that you could pursue instead:
- Create a holiday album that isn’t focused necessarily on dates.
- Instead of daily, organize it by week. Give an overview of the special moments from each week.
- Search out a different approach to the project.
Whatever the case, it’s important that you make the decision that is best suited for you. Memory keeping shouldn’t be stressful, and it’s important to know exactly what you can handle.
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