At the end of last year, I devised a scheme for 2014 in which I’d focus on one of my family lines per quarter. The idea was to keep my research focused and to have a list of organizing-related tasks for each line that I’d want to have completed by the end of the quarter.
We’re just past the half way point of the quarter, and I thought it was time I took stock of how this scheme was working out.
First, I will say that it has been really helpful having a single line (this quarter, it’s my father’s father’s line, the Adamses) that I’m focusing on. It’s diminished the overwhelming feeling I sometimes get when I think about getting started on a research project.
(Another big help in keeping me focused has been my Research Tracker, part of the Family History Organizer custom notebook I developed for Springpad, which you can download into your Springpad account.)
In re-reading that blog post today, I realized that I’ve doing a pretty good job on the research-related aspects of my quarterly goals:
- Fill in collateral relatives on my family tree in Reunion
- Search for sources for unsourced data provided to me by cousins
- Go up at least one generation in verified information
I haven’t accomplished them all yet, but I’ve been making slow and steady progress.
Where I’m falling behind is on the ambitious list of quarterly organizing tasks I’d put together, namely:
- Fill in the gaps on my progress tracker
- Make sure my surname files for that line are organized on my hard drive
- Ensure that everything in my paper files for that line is also organized on my hard drive
- Attach photos to my family tree in Reunion
So for the rest of the month, I think I’m going to get back to marrying my electronic and paper files, and see what photos I have that I can attach to my family tree. And I’ll pull out my progress tracker and make sure it’s up to date.
What I like about this quarterly plan is that it’s adding a little urgency to the activities, by providing a deadline after which I switch focus. And it’s helping me clear an organizing backlog. At year’s end, my electronic files should be in a great shape, I should know where I stand, and I will have made progress on my research. Even if I don’t accomplish all of that, I will have made progress and I can continue moving forward next year.
Of course, time will tell. But I will keep you posted on my progress!
