Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Reminder: I’m presenting The Imperfect Genealogist on April 3

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I posted about this a couple of weeks ago, but I wanted to remind you that tomorrow (Saturday, April 3) at 1:30 Eastern time, I’ll be presenting a 45-minute talk (followed by 15 minutes of Q&A) for the Greene County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society. It’s the same talk, The Imperfect Genealogist, that I presented at last year’s RootsTech conference.

Saturday’s talk is free and open to the public. You don’t even have to register. Just click on this Zoom link at the appointed time and join us. The Zoom room will open at 1:00, there will be a short business meeting at 1:30 and my presentation will start around 1:50. (Again, all these times are Eastern Daylight Time.)

I’ll be talking about ways perfectionism can get in the way of enjoyable and productive genealogy research, along with some areas in genealogy where, in my opinion, good enough isn’t good enough. I’ll also be discussing some strategies for letting go of perfectionism. This is something my co-host, Shannon Wilkinson, and I discuss a lot on our podcast, Getting to Good Enough.

Speaking of my co-host, there’s also still time to sign up for Declutter Happy Hour, a four week class that Shannon and I are teaching on Zoom to help you let go of physical and emotional clutter in a fun and supportive atmosphere. It’s being held each Wednesday in April from 7 to 8:30 pm Eastern. Click here for more information and to buy a ticket.

Time for another 30 x 30 challenge!

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It’s that time again! I need a 30 x 30 challenge so badly because I barely got any genealogy research done in March. I love how a 30 x 30 challenge vaults research to the top of my daily task list.

Who would like to join me in committing to doing at 30 minutes of research a day for 30 days? (You’re welcome to customize the challenge in any way…it’s your challenge.) We’ll start on April 1.

In February’s challenge, I worked on checking the sources in my source documentation list and in the process added significantly to my backlog of documents to be processed. So this month, I’m going to focus on reducing that backlog. And I’m committing to process any new documents during the session I download them (because sometimes you have to do a little clarifying research when you’re busting the backlog). As I have in the past, I’ll keep a spreadsheet of my progress, so I can feel good about it (and, I hope, not feel overwhelmed).

Let me know in the comments if you’d like to join me! I’ll be posting a mid-month and end-of-the-month check in where we can share how it’s going. Here’s to a great month of research!

Another chance to hear The Imperfect Genealogist on Zoom

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I was excited to be invited to present the talk I gave at RootsTech 2020, The Imperfect Genealogist, to the Greene County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society. The presentation will held on Zoom at 1:30 pm eastern time on Saturday, April 3. You can learn more about Greene County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society on their website.

The meeting is open to anyone and I was encouraged to let my blog readers know about it, in case you’re interested in attending. It’s free and you don’t even have to register. Just click on this Zoom link at 1:30 eastern on April 3 and join us!

I’ll be talking about ways perfectionism can get in the way of enjoyable and productive genealogy research, along with some areas in genealogy where, in my opinion, good enough isn’t good enough. I’ll also be discussing some strategies for letting go of perfectionism. This is something my co-host and I discuss a lot on our podcast, Getting to Good Enough.

Feel free to let me know in the comments if you plan to attend!

We’re offering Declutter Happy Hour again!

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Each Wednesday in February, my podcast co-host, Shannon Wilkinson, and I taught a Declutter Happy Hour to a group of about 15 lovely participants. It was so much fun, we’ve decided to offer it again. The next session of the four-part class  will be held April 7, 14, 21, and 28 from 6 to 7:30 pm central daylight time. Click here to learn more and register.

As I said in my January post about the first session, Shannon and I created Declutter Happy Hour way back in 2009.  It started as a teleclass then morphed into an ecourse before we retired it. And it ended up being a precursor to our podcast.

We were thrilled to be invited by our friends at Fly Paper to bring Declutter Happy Hour back to life, this time via Zoom. And we’re doubly delighted to be offering a second session!

Declutter Happy Hour is a live experience where you get to do some decluttering during the class. I think it’s really special because it infuses the decluttering process with a secret ingredient: mindset change (plus fun and laughter).

Each of the four sessions starts with a discussion led by Shannon and me about an important aspect of the decluttering process and the mindset shift that can go along with it. Then, during the class, you get time to work on a small decluttering project. It could be something to do with your decluttering your genealogy research papers. Or you may want to tackle your linen closet (or any other space in your home). Or your hard drive. Whatever you decide to work on, Shannon and I will stay in the Zoom room, ready and waiting to answer any questions and provide support and encouragement.

By the end of four sessions you’ll have let go of more than just stuff and you’ll have the tools to take on decluttering projects on your own. (But you’d be welcome to  sign up for another session!)

Again, Declutter Happy Hour runs on Wednesdays in April starting at 6 pm central time. You can register at eventbrite. Let me know in the comments if you sign up!