Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Watch me discuss genealogy on Hoardganize podcast

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A couple of weeks ago I recorded a video podcast episode for Hoardganize, an organizing podcast hosted by Rachel Seavey of Collector Care. We focused on genealogy: getting started, as well as organizing results. I’m accustomed to audio podcasts, so I find it fairly tortuous to watch myself talk. I’m hopeful that it’s less tortuous for you. That aside, I think we had a great discussion and there’s some good info in there.

You can watch the video on YouTube or, if you prefer, listen to it on the Hoardganize website.

Here are some highlights:

  • Where to start: start with yourself and work up your tree (1:30)
  • Gather the basic info: birth, marriage, death, censuses
  • Track info in an Ancestry.com tree or download info and build a family tree using separate software
  • Research direct lines (9:00)
  • Move to collateral lines
  • Using Family Search (10:25)
  • Using libraries (15:06)
  • U.S. research versus other countries (16:11)
  • Organizing your documents (17:54)
  • My file naming protocol
  • Keeping track of what you’re doing now and what you want to research in the future

I hope you find it helpful. If you do, please feel free to share!

It’s (finally) time for another 30 x 30 challenge!

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Happy to new year to all my readers! Boy, do I need a 30 x 30 challenge. I have been so disconnected from my research since my last 30 x 30 challenge in October, first because of National Novel Writing Month and then I was slammed with work for my organizing business in December. So my research has been quite dormant, which makes me sad.

Starting January 1 I commit to doing 30 minutes of genealogy research every day for 30 days. Will you join me?

The first step for me–which I hope to do before January 1 rolls around–will be getting back in touch with what I was doing with my research. I’ll do that by reviewing my informal research log. I hope to take some time this weekend to set some goals for my genealogy research in 2020 as well. I think that I’m going to try to keep them simple this year, with an emphasis on daily research. (If there’s one thing that these 30 x 30 challenges have taught me, it’s the value of daily research.)

So please let me know in the comments if you’re interested in participating in the January 2020 30 x 30 challenge. I’ll do a mid-month status report that I’ll invite you to participate in. Otherwise it’s very low key…just an opportunity to get back into daily research knowing that others are doing it with you.

Can’t wait to get into daily research!

Flash sale on Orderly Roots Guides!

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To show my gratitude this Thanksgiving weekend for this wonderful community, I’m offering a Flash Sale on my Orderly Roots Guides.

Today through Sunday, you can buy all three Orderly Roots Guides for the price of one. Put all three in your cart and use the promo code FAMILY at checkout and you’ll be charged for just one. (The sale doesn’t include the Paperless Genealogy Guide.)

The coupon code expires at 12:01 am central time on December 2.

October 30 x 30 wrap up: How’d it go?

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It’s last day of October. (October felt very long to me!) For those of you who participated in the 30 x 30 challenge in which you committed to doing 30 minutes of genealogy research for 30 days in a row (or some variation, at your discretion), I’d love to hear how the challenge went for you!

As I mentioned in my mid-month update, I had a blockbuster first half of the month. The only day I failed to research in the first 26 days of the challenge was (ironically enough) the day I posted that update. I had two trips in October, one to Walla Walla to visit my dad for a week followed shortly by a five-day trip to New York City to pal around with my college buddies (which was heaven). I managed daily research all the way to my penultimate day in New York, which was October 26. But when I got home after so much travel I had to hit the ground running with appointments and other obligations for my organizing business. So I’m ending the month with a whimper.

But I’m very proud that I researched 25 out of the first 26 days of the month. I love how daily research keeps me connected with my ancestors and my research.

In November I’ll be working every day on my novel for National Novel Writing Month, so I’m thinking I won’t get a lot of genealogy research done. Maybe I’ll surprise myself. I think I’ll start another 30 x 30 challenge in January. I hope you’ll join me!

In the meantime, please report in, if you’d like!