Week in the Life 2022

Oooh so I use day one also, but I don’t think I am using it “thoroughly” enough. Maybe we need a thread to discuss day one further because I think others use is also- I am always interested in the ways people are using it.

Here's my tips that I've used for the 4-5 albums I have:

--I set a timer on my phone for morning, noon, afternoon and night time to remind me to take a photo of whatever I am doing. I will vary the time from day to day to get different times throughout the week.
--If I take a horizontal photo, I automatically take a vertical photo so I have photo options at the end of the week.
--I set up my iPhone to have a specific folder to store all my photos in called WITL and then I add a sub folder for each day. At the end of the day. I edit the photos and 'star' each photo I am for sure going to use. That way I know exactly what I have and might have missed.
--When it comes time to do my album, I only use whatever products I have in my kit. I create way more with less product.
--I set up my album, somewhat, ahead of time. IO get my page protectors in the order I want them, insert whatever 'day' cards I want to use. I also make my title page ahead of time. For me, if I commit and make the title page then that means I am committed to finishing my album.

I listened back to the podcast I mentioned earlier in the thread and here were some ideas

In your purse…on your nightstand…in your fridge… that type of thing

Your online life

Weather

And a great suggestion was not to try to capture everything each day but over the course of the week instead..so for example in the morning you use certain products, take meds, make coffee pack lunch etc- rather than trying to capture it all everyday…just one photo w/ part of it for each day-if that makes sense.

Yes! Taking too many versions of the same thing can leave you bogged down and paralyzed by too many decisions when it comes to putting the project together. I think snapping your morning routine one day, evening routine another day, etc etc works quite well. I definitely don't need to see what making dinner looks like every night but catching one good shot of me in pjs with the dog "helping" was a nice little memory to look back on 7 years later.

Including a shot of however you get your news can be fun (newspaper, online, TV, Instagram) and it's always a bit of a surprise looking back and seeing what was news that day/week (local or bigger). I hadn't forgotten about the big explosion that was front page local news in WITL 2015 but I was surprised that it was then specifically.

I also took a photo of our basement because we were storing things down there for a new business, 2 or 3 businesses ago, and our basement storage looks totally different now, especially since I started storing food down there in 2020. It's not a place I spend much time and its very un-photogenic but it's interesting to see. 

I did the fridge at the beginning of the week and another shot at the end of the week. Taking photos of your groceries before you put them away can be really interesting too. I have read some books by Peter Menzel that encouraged me to take photos now and then of what we bring home from the store: www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2013/may/06/hungry-planet-what-world-eats

This is such a simple tip, but it's something I never considered that will be a game changer in fill my pocket pages. Thanks!

This thread has so many good ideas. I was leaning towards skipping WITL this year. Now after reading everything, I think I will document it, take the notes, then decide if it turns into a mini album or pages later. I've been doing the Heidi Swapp "stop the blur" weekly documenting since 2020, and even tho I'm not doing every week right now, I am in the habit of documenting that way. I think for WITL it tends to be a bit more staged/curated for me in the sense that I make it a point to add in things about life now, from an overall snapshot point, versus just recording what happened.

As far as the selfie/timer thing, I like to look for creative ways to snap a photo of reflection, so mirrors, windows, shiny stainless steel, puddles, rearview mirror, side mirrors, etc. One of my fav photos is shopping in a store like Home Goods and taking a photo of reflection in the section with the big standing mirrors.

As far as what I've done for WITL in the past, I usually print the daily sheets that Ali E provided, but put 2 on a page so I can fold a piece of paper horizontally, and it fits nicely in my planner to take notes. But I mostly rely on Day One journal app for recording, and also take photos of things that I want to remember. Lots of screenshots of things I've looked at: text conversations, social media posts, articles read, audio books listening to, podcasts, tv show/movie posters, grocery lists, etc.

I've done WITL...I guess a bit more than a handful of times?

2014 - 8.5x11 digital layouts printed
2015 - hybrid 12x12 layouts chronologically within regular album
2016 - separate 6x8 album
2017 - hybrid 12x12 layouts chronologically within regular album
2018 - intended to do digital 3x8 album, but never finished
2019 - can't remember - think I skipped it
2020 - hybrid 8.5x11 layouts
2021 - 6x8 snap book

I'm missing one because I know I did a summer week once, maybe that was in 2013? Not sure how long it's been going on. Even the year I didn't finish what I intended, I think 2018, I stuck the daily pages in the back of my regular album that year, so at least I have that documenting somewhere.

One of my fav things I always do is sort of like catch-all page for any little stuff that doesn't make it into the regular daily recording, so it's generally been a "around here" sort of thing with thumbnail snapshots of stuff I want to include. One year I used the divided 6x8 pp with the small 2x2s to stick bits of ephemera and another time I just printed a contact sheet of photos to insert into album and added some embellishment to it.

The past 2 years I really thought about the format and that seems to help me complete it. I really loved the way my 2020 came out with my hybrid 8.5x11 pages. I like to sketch it all out, then when I'm putting it together I don't forget anything.

Writing this up kinda got me excited for it! I think I want to include the 18th weekend, so may include both weekends.

I recently did this super simple one for spring break and I love it.

http://instagram.com/p/CdVt98DurDd

Just wanted to share this video in which a photographer discusses staying present while taking everyday photography (and showing some lovely shots of his own family life in the process):



ETA: There's a gorgeous shot where he photographs the back of his kid by the bathroom sink while having his own reflection showing in the bathroom mirror. Such a great shot idea for WITL/DITL.

So many new and exciting things happening for you!! No prep party this year unfortunately Sounds like Ali will have a series of prerecorded videos though which will still be nice.

Crafty Ass Female Podcast has a great podcast that released today about WITL - capture techniques - photos and words. I listened to it this morning while I walked my dog and found several tips that I can use next week. I plan on going back and re-listening when I can write things down so I can remember them!