Did you know that professional genealogists often find their research stalled and need a jumpstart?
It's true.
So what are we to do to get out of the rut e might be stuck in?
I've discovered six simple things that help me get my family history mojo back.
Howdy, I'm Devon Noel Lee with Family History Fanatics,
and I love helping you learn how to climb your family tree and have fun along the way.
My genealogy research projects and interest have stalled a time or two in
the past two years. Last year, I planned to complete a scrapbook for my mother-in-law,
write about William Townsend, my Civil War Ancestor,
and work on extending my Townley lines.
However, my mental health and family challenges has not faired well with being
cut off from friends and family members, moving to a new state, and so much more.
As a result, I lost my mojo until I remembered these six simple steps to restart the fire.
One of my biggest problems is not realizing that there aren't enough hours in the day to do
everything my ambitious mind wants to accomplish. Additionally, I've learned that I become
hyper-focused on one project at a time. And then move to the next.
And then to the next. By contrast, Andy can work on multiple projects
simultaneously and make moderate progress on each. However, even he has to limit how
many projects he works on at once. Which project management style do you have?
Let me know in the comments.
But, I do recommend, regardless of your style,
picking only one or two projects or research questions.
However, I have learned in the book called The One Thing, to write down all
your possible projects and research questions and keep them in a memorable and safe place.
I do this in Google Sheets on my Google Drive account.
Once you have all of these ideas written down, you free your brain to focus on those one or two or
two projects that you need to do next. The one thing that you need to do
before you do the next one thing. So, I like to pick two projects but
decide which one is more important than the other. That way, if progress on the top priority project
stalls, I can work on the second priority until the first can move forward again.
2. Determine the Tasks
Next, review what you've already accomplished to reignite the fire in a project.
•For the scrapbook I have, I have the photos organized and a few scrapbook layouts arranged,
and a few starter stories. •For the Civil War Ancestor project,
I've written about his birth marriage and part of his service and his injury. There's a lot
more to do, but I've started reviewing and taking stock of what I've already written.
Now that I have reviewed where I'm at in the project,
I need to determine the next steps and make a plan.
For a writing or scrapbooking project, the following steps could be content editing,
researching for more details, or finalizing the project for publication.
For my mother-in-law's doll scrapbook,
I have spoken to my mother-in-law to expand the stories she already started. So now,
I just need to take those stories, put them in this graphic layout, and decorate the pages.
For the Civil War ancestor, I need to write about his life after the war. And
then write about his death and what happened to his children after that.
So now that I know what tasks need to happen,
I can put those down on my To-Do list and have a jump start to those projects again this year.
If you're working on a research project, use a research plan. With that plan,
identify the records you need to investigate to answer your research question. You should
also be recording your notes and writing conclusions about your discoveries along the way.
Have you made New Years' Resolutions but failed to keep them more than two weeks after making them?
I have.
Last year, my family posted our goals in our dining room, but truthfully,
the writing was so small that it was hard for us to remember what was on those papers.
In the end, one of the five persons that lived
in the household achieved any of the goals that were written down.
By contrast, for the year leading up to my 40th birthday, I had the goal of getting in shape to
be Catwoman for Halloween. I know, crazy goal!
But what I did is I made a calendar check-off chart to record the days I exercised.
In addition, I had an assessment chart to measure my weight loss and muscle changes.
Because let's face it. Getting in shape takes a long time and you can get discouraged.
And having those charts visible reminded me of my goal and I was
able to achieve that and wear the Catwoman costume on October 31st.
So this year, I'm gonna post a picture of a finished scrapbook in two places
that I work the most in my home. And I'm giving myself a deadline. Mother's Day.
That should be enough time. So with that visual goal in my house,
hopefully, I'll remember to work you on that instead of watching
my favorite videos on YouTube or on Amazon Prime.
I'll also make a mock-up of the Civil War Ancestor's book cover.
And then, I will post a picture of that on my wall next to the scrapbook to remind me.
“Okay, if you're not in the mood to work on this scrapbook,
then work on the William Townsend Civil War ancestor project.”
Now, sometimes we've lost our mojo because we actually need
to learn something new and try it out. For instance, perhaps we need to learn how to:
•use genealogy software features •create timelines
•make clue webs •write a research report
•use those features on Google Docs •research in tax records
•find land records and learn what the terminology means
You get the idea.
If you need some other suggestions of things to learn, be sure to check out the Show Notes
because I have blog posts and videos that will help you learn everything I've listed so far,
as well as some other ideas that I haven't mentioned in this video.
If something is important, you put it on your calendar.
So, why don't you make dates with yourself?
My children's doctor's appointments, swim practices,
and church activities make it to the calendar.
My lectures and video releases have space on my calendar as well.
Do you know what didn't have space on my calendar last year
but did in prior years when I was more successful in accomplishing my goals?
This year, let's schedule dates with ourselves to know when we want to work on a project.
Of course, things may come up, and we must move that date to another time slot.
But don't be a no-show to your dates.
I mean, if you set the alarm to work out at 5:00 am and stop
the reminder but don't take action, you're as bad as the date who stood someone up.
Keep your promise to yourself by showing up to your genealogy date
and see just how much progress you're going to make on your goals this year.
Sometimes we're stuck because we don't know the next step. Or we don't know how to do the next
step, which requires a lot of time or skill in order to accomplish that goal or that activity.
Don't be like a stereotypical male who doesn't stop and ask for directions when their lost.
Likewise, don't be like a stereotypical female who
doesn't ask for help with home or family when we need it most.
The most successful people know what they don't know and ask for help when needed.
Some ways to ask for help can be:
•Brainstorm with a genealogy buddy about what to search next.
•Watch a lecture about how to research obscure records.
•Ask a family member to help with a project • And even hire professional service providers
to tackle a challenging research project or write and publish your family history project.
If the Serenity Prayer can help people recover from addictions and afflictions,
perhaps a Genealogy Serenity Prayer could be.
God, grant me the serenity to accomplish the things I can do,
the courage to recognize things I cannot, and wisdom to ask for help when needed.
May you progress in your projects today and every day as you follow and do these steps
to jumpstart your genealogy research and get your family history mojo back.
Thanks for watching. Be sure to hit the like button
and leave a comment before checking out
this video on things you can do to become a better genealogist.