Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

My moratorium on new information

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stoplightI love attending genealogy conferences and learning about new opportunities to learn more about my ancestors. I sat in on some of the National Archives Virtual Genealogy Fair and learned about new-to-me records I might explore for information on my ancestors. I got really excited about the possibilities. And then I was struck by revelation:

I will benefit more from processing the information I’ve already found than from seeking out new information.

I’m speaking personally, of course. For me, I think one way I can avoid being blindsided by overwhelm in my research is by focusing on the (not-unsubstantial) documents I’ve already found. I want to examine and evaluate them, keeping track of the clues contained in them and taking note of new avenues of research. I’ll keep a list of these next steps and I’ll try very hard not to explore them until I’ve caught up with what I have on hand. If I just keep gathering new documents without taking the time to analyze and benefit from them, I’ll constantly feel behind. That’s not how I want to feel about my genealogy research!

I’ve done a pretty good job of collecting military and pension files for some of my ancestors. I’m going to make processing them a priority. So far, here’s what I have:

  • Three Union Civil War pension files, which are various stage of processing, from almost complete to barely started
  • One Confederate Civil War pension file I have (from the Alabama archives)
  • A Civil War Compiled Service Record for one ancestor I downloaded years ago that I didn’t do much with
  • A newly acquired military record for my great grandfather’s service in the Philippine Insurrection

In addition to processing those documents, I’d like to continue systematically checking my source documentation.

If I focus on these resources I’ve already gathered through the end of the year, I feel like I can start 2017 with a sense of accomplishment and a fabulous to-do list of things to research. So much of the fun of genealogy research is the thrill of the hunt. But if I take the time to analyze the clues I find, the hunt will be even more thrilling.

Photo by walknboston via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

Just a little bit counts

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10minutetimerI’ve been trying hard to adhere to my new routine of doing genealogy research first thing in the morning. The trouble is that some mornings are busier than others. When I have an 8:30 client appointment it can be challenging for me to find the time to do research. My genealogy research is important to me, but it’s not urgent.

For the last month, I’ve done at least a little research almost every morning. I’ll set my timer for as little as ten minutes and research for that short amount of time. Since my current project is systematically going through my source documentation–which is actually proving to be really interesting and enjoyable–I know exactly where to start and I know that a little bit of focused time will move me along.

What I’ve discovered in doing this is that the benefit goes beyond furthering my research. Keeping myself engaged in my research on a daily basis makes me more excited to work on it. It also makes me feel more connected to my ancestors and helps me remember names and dates.

For the first half of the year I thought a lot about my genealogy research but I didn’t do a lot of it. Mostly I just felt anxious or guilty about not taking the time to work on it. These days, I’m still thinking a lot about it, but my thoughts are happy and productive. That’s a wonderful shift.

Doing just a tiny bit of daily action reaps big results. This is true in family history research. It’s also true in organizing your family history research. And let’s face it–it’s true in many other aspects of life, like exercise and healthy eating.

Daily habits are the foundation of an easy life. I’ve said that for years as a professional organizer. Now I’m seeing it come true in my genealogy research. I love it!

Letting go of should

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shouldgraphicIt’s natural to ask about questions about organizing (your genealogy or anything else) that start with the word “should.” Should I organize my documents this way or that way? Should I store things here or there? Should I focus on this or that?

When I try to answer a question that starts with should, the answer is almost always, “It depends.” Because it’s all about what will work for you.

I encourage my clients (and anyone else who will listen to me) to let go of the word should. And to also let go of asking questions that start with, “What’s the right way to…” or What’s the best way to….”

Because here’s the thing: I can’t tell you what you should do. Only you know what’s right for you. It can be much more beneficial to think in terms of what you’d like to do, or what you think will work best for you, rather than what you should do. Especially when it comes to organizing your genealogy research, the thing you should do (in my opinion) is the thing that works well for you and that you can keep up.

For example:

  • Maybe you’ve always heard that you should store your paper documents in binders, but you have trouble keeping up with that. Let go of that should and consider using file folders or scanning your documents.
  • Maybe you think you should print every document for the sake of posterity but you’re overrun with unfiled paper. You can let go of that should, particularly if your electronic documents are already organized.
  • Conversely, maybe you’ve heard you should scan every bit of paper and store files electronically, but you’re overwhelmed by the prospect. Bye bye, should. You can let your paper files be sufficient. Or just start storing new files electronically and leaving your papers unscanned.
  • Maybe you’re told you should keep a research log, but you just can’t get yourself to do it. A research log can be hugely beneficial. But don’t beat yourself up if you don’t have one just because you think you should.

In other words, set yourself up for success and do what works for you. Decide what your priorities are (accessibility for you, accessibility for others, ease of use, etc.) and focus your organizing systems on those priorities. Don’t do something just because someone told you you should if it doesn’t seem like it will work for you.

All that said, there are some genealogy shoulds that I think you should pay attention to:

  • You should cite your sources so you can find them again and know where your facts came from (but you don’t have to cite them perfectly if that’s getting in the way of citing them at all).
  • You should back up your electronic data in case of a crash. (I use an external hard drive and automated cloud storage.)

Genealogy is supposed to be fun. Don’t let the shoulds drag you down. Make your own choices and own them. And keep yourself open to new ways of doing things. (See what I did there? I told you all sorts of things I think you should do, without using that word. Take what works for you and let go of the rest.)

The power of the deadline

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page 1 dave's letter to bea testIn my last post, I blogged about how I needed to reignite my interest in doing family history research. Due to competing priorities I hadn’t done any research in awhile and I was having difficulty jumping back in. I decided to work on research that I could share with my father when I visit him next week. That deadline helped activate me a little.

But I let the deadline get closer before taking action. Last week was an especially busy week with organizing clients, so it wasn’t until the weekend that I finally did something. And that’s because I selected a small, fun project that I could do in the now-abbreviated time available to me.

A little background: A couple of years ago, my aunt gave the great gift of a hand-written letter from my grandfather to his then-fiancee, my grandmother. In it he poured out his personal history in the hopes of putting all his cards on the table before they were married. I read and enjoyed it, but retained only a little of the information in my head. (Though I did blog about some of the insights!) I had my grandfather’s handwriting analyzed by Nancy Douglas. (Fascinating!) I had shared the handwriting analysis with my father, but never the actual letter.

So I decided to transcribe the letter before I leave town. I started on Sunday and it’s been such a fun project! The letter is 37 pages, handwritten. But the writing and spacing are large, so it’s not a daunting task. A little bonus is that the letter, when given to me, was missing three double-sided pages. I found those pages in a bundle of love letters my father gave me this past December. So I’ve been able to scan those missing pages and include them in the transcription.

This project has reinforced to me the power of the deadline and the incredible value of transcribing. In the process of transcribing this letter, I’ve really read it. I’ve taken note of what a good writer my grandfather was (he ended up becoming a newspaper reporter) and what a humorous writer he was. It’s given me a little insight into the similarities between my father and grandfather.

It’s also given me a peek into the hardships he endured as a child and young man and what a hard worker he was. I learned, for example, that in high school he worked after school from 3 pm to 11 pm every school day and all day Saturday and Sunday at a movie theater. And for all those hours he earned $14 a week. That was 1922 and Google tells me that would be $191.40 in today’s dollars. Not a great hourly wage! But he wrote very proudly of his hard work and earnings.

I haven’t yet finished transcribing–it’s a great project to take in small chunks and that’s what I’ve been doing. But I’m enjoying it so much and feel my genealogy spark turning back into a flame!

Here’s my takeaway from this little experience. I realized that I was able to reignite the flame because:

  • I had a deadline.
  • I chose a small, fun project.
  • I’m getting some great insights and easy-to-read access to them later
  • That project will be important to someone besides me.
  • The project can be done in 15-minute increments.

When I finish this, I have that set of love letters between these same grandparents that I can transcribe if I choose. Or I move on to something else. But the nice thing is that I’m working on family history again!