Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Registration open for RootsTech 2022 (entirely virtual!)

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Last summer, RootsTech announced that its 2022 conference, to be held March 3 to 5, 2022, would once again be virtual. The pandemic caused the 2021 conference to go virtual and, according to RootsTech, it was such a success that they envision always having a virtual component to this popular conference. For safety reasons 2022 will be entirely virtual and I look forward to seeing what they do in the future to combine virtual and in-person attendance.

As it was last year, RootsTech will be 100% free of charge. I just signed up and it couldn’t be easier. Just go to the RootsTech website, fill in your name and how you want to be contacted (email, text or both), your email address and/or mobile number then click Sign Up for Free. You’ll be taken to a page that offers you an All Access Pass (also free) that requires a (free) FamilySearch account. One more click and you’re done.

The sessions for RootsTech 2021 sessions are still available for viewing, right from the RootsTech website. This was a great reminder of all the education I have not yet taken advantage of and I think I have until about the first of March to watch the classes from 2021 that I’m interested in. I’m going to try to create a routine of watching at least a class or two each weeek until then. (I also noticed that some keynotes and general sessions from past in-person conferences are available for viewing by clicking on the Previous Events in the footer.)

I did not propose to present a class at RootsTech 2022–I think I was in the middle of some sort of crisis when the proposals were due. I’m confident there will be another terrific slate of speakers and topics!

Here’s the video about RootsTech that you can also see on the RootsTech website when you register.

Quick Tip #28: Think of your future self

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Here’s the next in my occasional series of bite-size Quick Tips. Click on the Quick Tips tag for my other Quick Tips. Because I tend to write longer posts, I wanted to provide a quick-to-read (and quick-to-write) post every couple of weeks on a small topic that pops into my head. I’m hoping this one will prompt you to go the extra mile, even when it feels tedious.

Think of your future self

I think we’ve all experienced fatigue when we’re analyzing a document and we decide not to record tiny details because it just feels like too much. Or we’re processing a census return and the ancestor had 14 kids and adding all of them to the tree is too tedious to bear. If you’re tempted to stop short of completely processing a document or perhaps wanting to take short cuts in a transcribing project, I encourage to think about how you will benefit from today’s effort tomorrow. When I first started researching, I took all sorts of short cuts that I regretted later on when I turned my attention a particular ancestor or collateral relative.

Next time you’re tempted to stop and move on, I encourage you to think of your future self and press Pause instead. Write down your next steps in your research log or elsewhere so you don’t forget. Come back to the task with a fresh brain. Remember, genealogy is a marathon not a sprint!

Photo by Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash

October 2021 30 x 30 wrap up!

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It’s the end of another 30 x 30 challenge and it’s time to share how you did. I’m sorry to say that I did not have a good month. As I mentioned in the mid-month check in, I had trouble remembering in the first half of the month. Things got worse in the second half because I was in Walla Walla visiting my family from October 18 to 28. I had some nice reminiscing time with my father and my aunt, but mostly I was kept so busy with various tasks for them (and my brother) that I did virtually no research. I was able to process a few documents from my backlog on the airplane, but overall, the last half of the month feels like a wash.

But you know what? I’m cutting myself a lot of slack. I was not able to prioritize genealogy research and that’s okay. I know better months are in my future!

If you participated in the challenge, please let us know in the comments how it went. I’m hopeful it went well for you, but there’s no shame in admitting you didn’t have a great month.

I plan to do another challenge in December or in January, depending on how my December looks.

30 x 30 mid-month check in

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We’re at the halfway point of the October 2021 30 x 30 challenge. How is it going?

I have to admit I’m not having a great challenge. I kept forgetting at the beginning of the month, so I missed a couple of days. Then I remembered, but didn’t have time to research much. So I’ve managed to do some research–but nowhere near 30 minutes–all but three days. I have hopes that I’ll have time for some long research sessions in the remainder of the month to make up some of the time. But even if I don’t, I’m pleased that I’ve been able to connect with my research almost daily.

How about you? If you’re participating in the challenge, please let everyone know in the comments how your month is going.