Every April, we grudgingly turn to the onerous work of tackling our taxes. To go into that box of itemized receipts, printouts, and pay stubs—and make sense of it all—is a painstaking task. But we do it because we have to. What if—to counter the energy deficit that squaring up our tax documents creates—we took up a sort of accounting that’s all about tracking windfalls, gains, and bonuses of the life-experience variety? Think of the happiness refund that would come your way!
That’s exactly what the Mixbook personal memory book is all about. Make it a self-imposed life-experience accounting exercise that you collect for all year long—and bask in the sweet reward once it’s done. Here are our top personal memory book ideas:
Create a Digital Folder
Start by creating a digital folder called “Mixbook 2012” where you drop significant photographs, documents, and emails. As you upload photos from your camera, identify particularly special images and drop them into your Mixbook 2012 folder. You can err on the side of adding too many, as you can always curate them further at the end of the year. You can also consider dragging and dropping sweet emails you get from friends and family members right into the folder. And don’t forget to add any emails you get from colleagues that praise you for a job well done. Make it a habit—the payoff will be immense.
Designate a Physical Box
Grab a shoebox and label it “Mixbook 2012.” Add physical memorabilia and ephemera to it as devotedly as you would with important tax documents. In the box you’ll want to toss anything that’s significant including newspaper clippings, ticket stubs, special-occasion dinner menus, artwork, birthday cards, school pictures, team photos, paper certificates, race bibs, award ribbons, and travel postcards, and more. Placing things in the box will save you from having to think about where to store these items throughout the year, and then—once you’ve scanned and uploaded them into your digital Mixbook representing all the great moments in the year, you’re are free to save or scrap all the physical detritus.
Put “Mixbook 2012” On the Calendar
You reluctantly plan for tax season each year, why not joyfully anticipate the round-up of your year’s best memories. Put a recurring reminder on your digital calendar—or pencil it in for each May 1st. By then, taxes are out of the way and the school year’s about to wrap up, but summer vacations are yet to get underway. It’s the perfect time to reflect on all that you did last year and focus on all you want to do next year. Use the Automix feature in the Mixbook editor to drop your images in to a template automatically, then intersperse your layout with text from significant emails by copying and pasting the words into text boxes. Play with format as much as you like till your book is a true reflection of your year.
Order Your Mixbook!
Give yourself a deadline for ordering your year-in-review Mixbook. If May 1st is your yearly start date, consider making May 15th your order-by date. With a specific goal, you’ll discipline yourself to work on your book regularly, making the project go even more quickly and smoothly. At the end of this fun process, you’ll realize that your year was much richer and more positive—and that you packed more great times in—than you even realized. And you’ll be left with a time capsule that’s a robust picture of a year in your life. You can even make it a tradition to gift your Mixbook to a close family member for a special holiday each year.