Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Quick Tip #31: Don’t forget to include counties

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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. This is one has come in handy over the years.

Don’t forget to include counties

When I add a place in my genealogy software, I always try to include the county, even if I have to look it up. I didn’t used to do that. But I’ve learned that including the county is beneficial for a couple of reasons: (1) Records are often held at the county level, so knowing the county your ancestor resided in is helpful and (2) It helps you differentiate whether a locality is a city/town or the county of the same name. One locality that is in my database is my hometown of Walla Walla, which is located in the county of Walla Walla, in the state of Washington. So I repeatedly type Walla Walla, Walla Walla, Washington. It’s a little tedious, but it actually makes me smile. That’s just one of several same-named cities and counties in my database. I find it’s worth the time to type it twice. And, of course, this applies to counties that don’t have the same name as the town or city.

If you don’t already routinely include the county when you’re identifying a locality as a matter of course, I encourage you to make it a habit!

Photo by Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash

What would you like to hear about?

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I’ve been asked by MyHeritage to do a Facebook Live presentation on their Facebook Page about organizing your family history. When I asked them for a specific topics they’d like me talk about, they said that they’re open to any ideas I might have. The presentation will be 40 minutes of Powerpoint, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A. I have some ideas, but I thought I’d turn to you smart people, since I know you are interested in genealogy organizing, to see what you think would be a good topic for this presentation.

In case you want to attend and ask questions, the Facebook Live will be on Monday, February 7, at 12 noon Central Standard Time. I’m pretty sure the recording of it will remain available. I’ll be sure and post again about that.

I’m excited by this opportunity to reach MyHeritage’s huge audience and I thank you in advance for your input!

Happy new year! Time for a 30 x 30 challenge

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I am so ready for a 30 x 30 challenge to kick off the new year. Who is with me in committing to doing 30 minutes of genealogy research (or organizing) each day for 30 days, starting tomorrow? I know that I’m much more likely to do daily research when I have this accountability. And one of my goals for 2022 is to research every day.

I’ll be working on preparing for the 1950 census release on April 1, as well as processing the (gulp) 78 files I have in my backlog. I created a little spreadsheet on December 26, when I had 88 files in my backlog and have slowly been whittling it down. During those five days, I downloaded seven documents and processed 17. My hope is that, little by little, the backlog will be eliminated by the end of the month. I’ve worked every day for the past five days and have been getting into a groove that I hope will carry me right into the new year and beyond.

If you’d like to join me for this simple challenge, please let me know in the comments. I’ll create a check-in post mid-month and at the end and we can all let one another know how it’s going.

Happy new year! Looking forward to a new year of fun research!

 

Start 2022 with a clean research desk!

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I don’t know about you, but for me the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is all about setting goals, decluttering and organizing. There’s something about starting the new year with a cleaned up space that is so appealing. Today, I’m re-running a post I wrote in 2015 with step-by-step instructions on tidying up your genealogy research space. I thought maybe you’d find it handy this week!

If you can’t remember the last time you saw your desktop in your genealogy research space, perhaps it’s time to experience the joy of a clean desk. I know that time to do genealogy research is limited for most people and the last way  you want to spend your precious genealogy time is on cleaning up your desk. But it’s worth it. When you sit down at a clear desk, your mind is more clear and you can be more focused on your research.

But there’s good news: It doesn’t have to be hard or time consuming. Here’s a step-by-step suggestion for creating some order on your desk, swiftly.

  1. Set your timer for 25 minutes.*
  2. Clear everything off your desk (and I mean everything except, perhaps, your computer). Put like things together into rough categories as you go. (For example, put papers together in a pile on the floor near your desk; put office supplies together, etc.) It might helpful to have some bankers’ boxes or plastic totes handy to hold the categories, but the floor will do too.
  3. Put away the items that already have homes. For example, put binders and books where they belong. If something belongs in another room, put it in a box or bin that you’ve marked “Relocate to another room” so you don’t wander away from the room you’re working on. At the end of the session, you can put all that stuff away.
  4. Go through the non-paper items and put back on the desk those things that deserve to take up such prime real estate. Only those things you use every research session should be placed within arms’ reach when you’re sitting at your desk (with the possible exception of items that give you great pleasure to look at). Relocate or discard the other non-paper items that were on the desk.
  5. Take all those papers and put them in a box of some sort. Mark that box “Backlog.” (I use a box similar to this one from IKEA for that purpose and I place that box on a shelf.)
  6. Every time you’re at your desk, set a timer for ten minutes and go through the papers in the backlog, discarding, scanning and/or filing as required. Do this ten minutes a day for as long as it takes to eliminate the backlog. (You might be surprised how few of these short sessions it takes.)
  7. Don’t add to the backlog box. Instead, at the end of each research session take the time (probably less than five minutes) to clear off your desk and put everything away. That way, you’ll start each session fresh.

* When your timer goes off, stop what you’re doing and take a five-minute break. Then set it for another 25 minutes and get back to work, unless you’re done.

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When you first join the list, I’ll send you a few emails to help you organize your family history. After that you’ll hear from me at the end of every month when I send an email with links to that month’s posts. And every now and then, I’ll let you know when I have something special to promote.