2022 New Year's Resolutions

 

Have you set New Year's Resolutions for Family History?

Did you watch Thomas MacEntee's great talk on the MyHeritage Facebook page?

He suggested keeping it real, which I think is a brilliant suggestion.  We are all guilty of setting goals that are too big.  Keep them bite-size.

 

What will help us get there?  A tree with lots of branches of course and good foundations or roots !

Do you have a budget?  Do you have a strategy?  Are you measuring your results?  If not, how will you know you are making progress?  

I have been so inspired by the progress of other genealogists with their scanning, filing, writing and so on. Shauna Hicks  and Jennifer Jones spring to mind.

Budget

I need to focus on the areas that Thomas suggested:

1. Organization
2. Workflow
3. Information
4. Methodology
5. Education and
6. Legacy

I think all of us focus on that last area in a big way.  We want to leave a lasting legacy but are overwhelmed by how much there is to do and how much there is on offer. We need to make choices about what we focus on and where we spend our time.

The reality is I have a limited budget.  I still think it is quite a generous budget.  I've allowed myself $1040 to spend on Family History this coming year.  If I think about where I want to spend it I'm thinking I'll allocate it as follows:'

1. Membership $200
2. Workshops/Conferences $400
3. Certificates $240
4. Books/Database subscriptions $200

I'm a member of QFHS (dual membership with my father works out at $52.50) and SAG (dual membership with my father works out at $64).  That leaves a balance of $74.

If I spend $500 on workshops and conferences that's a budget of $48 per month.QFHS workshops are $15 each and SAG workshops are about the same price.  SIG meetings at SAG are about $8.  Of course there's lots of free events too. So that works out to be one each a month and some $ left over for other events e.g The Really Useful Family History Show or The Genealogy Show.

With my membership at QFHS I don't really need to take out subscriptions to databases but I do have one to Ancestry just for convenience and because of my DNA results.  It keeps things simpler.

 

 

 

TIME

Budget is of course not just about $ but also about time.  In retirement, I'm busier than I've ever been.  I don't just do family history.  I also love playing bridge but I need to improve.  And the same with sewing. And I need to look after my grandson so my daughter gets a break and because I love him to bits.  I also need to stay a little bit fit.  And read voraciously. And volunteer for my family history society. Oh yes...and housework...sigh...I suppose ;)

I've become quite disciplined about making sure I play bridge at least two or three times a week at the club or online.  Every morning I make sure I do some bridge exercises on Bridge Base Online otherwise I just don't improve.

I need to budget my time for family history and commit to it in the same way. Half an hour a day at a minimum preferably an hour.Here's my plan.

• Mondays - Learning and volunteer work in acquisitions for QFHS
• Tuesdays - National Family History Month and Research/Twitter chat in evenings for #ANZAncestryTime
  
• Wednesdays - Filing
• Thursdays - Scanning
• Fridays - data entry into Family Historian
• Saturdays - Blogging
• Sundays - participating in Special Interest Groups eg. Welsh Group/Family Historian User group and writing reports for QFHS. Performing Backup of files.
  

 

Thomas spoke about looking at our workspace - physical and digital - are they tidy?  Think about how you do things - your process.  Are you making it easier for yourself by keeping paper to a minimum, filing as you go, recording sources, setting up templates for recording sources to make it more efficient, keeping bookmarks for useful resources in a tidy fashion so they are easier to locate. Makes sense doesn't it? Last but not least track your research so you can see how far you've come.

GOALS

So my goals for 2022 are:

• keep my workplace tidy - that means once a week give it a spruce
• when I research, make sure I have a plan, enter data as I go, record sources using pre-existing templates and log what I've done.
• scan my photo albums one at a time, bit by elephant bit
• scan my documents and reduce my paper footprint, bit by elephant bit - the goal being to get rid of filing cabinets and bookcases full of folders to make space in my beautiful study
• write up biographies on my blog so I have the foundations of a book and have a crack at making just a little book on one part of the family by the end of the year.
• write a journal article
• do a presentation as part of the SAG Friday hangouts
  

Wow!  I'm quite looking forward to 2022.  There's a lot to do but I think bit by bit I can get there with the help of my lovely genie-friends shouting encouragement from near and far. Thank you Thomas MacEntee for the encouragement and wise advice.  

And thank YOU for taking the time to drop by and read my blog.  I hope 2022 brings you some joy in your family history hobby and that you achieve your goals too.