Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

How my research log keeps me focused

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Ever since I got serious about genealogy in 2012, I’ve struggled with keeping a research log. (Before that, I didn’t even consider keeping one.) In March 2017, after a few unsuccessful attempts at other formats, I settled on keeping my research log in Evernote with a simple note per session where I take free-form notes and always end the note with next steps. The notes are kept in a notebook by year. In April 2017, I blogged in detail about my informal research log. And in March 2017, I blogged about why keeping a research log is important. (If you click on that link, be sure and read the comments, which are really insightful.)

I’m in the middle of a 30 x 30 challenge and therefore researching daily in short sessions. I’m proud that there is a note for each day this month in my 2019 Research Log notebook. One benefit I’m seeing of my research log is that it’s keeping me focused and saving me time. And I appreciate that!

I always write next steps at the bottom of each entry. (True confession: Sometimes, during unproductive sessions, I just copy and paste the next steps from the previous day.) That means that when I sit down to research, all I have to do is pull up the previous day’s session notes and I know exactly what to work on. No more paralysis with the question “What should I work on today?”

Also, writing down what I’m doing seems to keep on task. I try to write as I go with frequent notes in my log each session. Sometimes, though, I end up doing a brain dump at the end of the session. Writing down what I’m doing or have done, keeps my research question top of mind.

When I come across a clue that I want to explore in the future (about a different research question or a different family than the one I’m researching today), I write it down in a follow up folder. I keep follow folders by surname and check them every now and then.

Staying focused is so hard in genealogy research with so many wonderful things to explore and so many temptations put right in front of us. A research log–in concert with follow-up folders to jot down future tasks–is my secret weapon for staying focused. My research log is far from perfect. But it’s consistent and, I’m finding, very helpful.

I have a Facebook group called Genealogy Research Loggers. Please join if you’re interested in research logs!

I’m a guest on Generations Cafe!

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Do you listen to Amy Johnson Crow’s excellent podcast Generations Cafe? If you have read my blog for awhile, you know I’m a big fan of Amy’s. (Here’s her How They Do It interview on this blog from 2017.) She started her podcast in September and I’ve really enjoyed listening to it. So when she asked me to be a guest, to talk about genealogy organizing, I jumped at the chance!

The episode was published on Wednesday and I am really happy with how it turned out. If you haven’t already (I know Amy has a HUGE audience, so you may already be aware of it), please check it out by clicking on this link or subscribing to Generations Cafe wherever you listen to podcasts.

Thank you, Amy, for the opportunity to talk with you and your listeners!

New year, new 30 x 30 challenge

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It’s January 1. Happy new year!

There’s nothing like a new year to make me want to start up a new 30 x 30 challenge, in which I challenge myself to doing 30 minutes of genealogy research each day for 30 days. My last 30 x 30 challenge was in October 2018 and in the wrap-up post for that, I said I’d offer it up again in January. Do you care to join me?

I love this challenge because it’s not too difficult, but it is very beneficial. Doing a half hour of research a day is not a hardship (for me, anyway) most days. And the challenge makes me prioritize daily research. Otherwise, it can fall lower on my list of priorities and then it just doesn’t happen. In fact, my November and December were not great for my research, though I was able to pick it up again over the holidays.

I find daily research to be really beneficial. For me, 15 hours of research split over 30 days is much more valuable than a weekend of research where I work 7.5 hours a day. By researching this way, I stay in touch with my research and I stay focused. It also has helped me ingrain a habit of using my Evernote research log.

Please let me know in the comments if you’re up for joining me in this challenge. It’s a great way to start the new year!

Avoiding tunnel vision

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Avoid tunnel vision in your genealogy researchI’ve been thinking quite a bit this fall about staying focused, since I spoke on that topic at the St. Louis Genealogy Conference. Focus is  such an important element in making progress in my research. I’m easily overwhelmed by all the possibilities of things to research and I strive to maintain my focus so I can avoid both overwhelm and distractions.

But there’s such a thing as being too focused, I think. Recently I’ve been revisiting early sources in my tree that I found a half decade or more ago. I’m so glad I’m doing it because I’m finding all sorts of things I missed the first time around. For example, on more than one occasion, I’ve re-examined a census document I’d downloaded for one ancestor family to find that another ancestor family–unrelated to the first one–was also on the page.

That reminded me how important it is to examine the whole census page when you find one. And it’s a great idea to expand your scan to a page or two before or after. Our ancestors tended to live near one another and families intermarried. You might end up finding a relative who hadn’t been indexed correctly. Or you might just learn more about your family.

Another even more obvious example of the pitfalls of tunnel vision is the tendency to focus on direct-line relatives. I learned the hard way that it’s important to collect information on all relatives who appear on a census, not just those from whom you descend. I remember back when I was starting out that the idea of recording information on all the collateral relatives felt tedious and overwhelming. That may be true. But these siblings of your ancestors might play key roles in solving puzzles down the road or in helping prove a document applies to your relative’s family and not another family. Trust me, if you expand your exploration (and documentation) to include all your collateral relatives, you’ll be glad you did later.

I recently revisited a marriage document from 1905. The marriage book contained the record for my great grandparents on the right-hand page of a two-page spread. What I simply hadn’t noticed before was that the on left-hand page of that spread was the marriage license for my great grandmother’s sister! Way back then I might have not taken the trouble to record the information, even if I’d noticed it. But now, I’m excited to add this family to my tree and it’s been a springboard for further exploration.

Those are just a few small examples of the benefits of avoiding tunnel vision even while you stay focused. If you can think of others, please share in the comments!

Photo by Angel Origgi on Unsplash