New Year - New Plans

Does the start of a New Year make you think about planning for the year ahead?

At the end of 2014 Thomas MacEntee introduced his Genealogy Do Over . 

I had every intention of getting this done last year. 
I made a start, but life just seemed to get in the way as it so often does, now to put that plan into action.

I decided a few weeks into the year, in 2015, that my first goal was going to take much longer than I anticipated. 

I visited the US in February 2015, attending the Rootstech/FGS conference in Salt Lake City, and in April 2015 I also spent a day at WDYTYA Live in Birmingham.

I regularly participate in genealogy hangouts, have my own blogs, a "day job", and run my family home. Ultimately something had to go, getting organized took a back seat. 

So this year I am continuing with my organization plans and hoping to implement some of the things I learnt last year. This applies to both my genealogy and my work files. Along the way I will be blogging about my progress and sharing things that I have found useful on either of my 2 blogs.

I have never been the most organized person and I have tried out a few systems with the aim of getting more organized. 

The above graphic shows some of the things I have had to consider under the overall "umbrella" of organisation. 
I have tried using both Evernote and One Note to aid organization, but at present, I am not exactly sure how I am going to make best use of their capabilities.

That being said, this Saturday I am going to the Genealogy Clutter Buster Mini Boot Camp. 
I am sure Lisa Alzo will have plenty of advice here. 
If you have been unable to sign up for this, both sessions quickly sold out, I am sure Thomas MacEntee will have it available after the event.


Hopefully I have finally hit on a system that works for me with what I am proposing to do.
This month I am concentrating on planning.

Have you made your own plans for 2016?

January is the month for Planning!

EXPECTATIONS

WHAT CAN I EXPECT IN 2015?

It is at this time of the year that we all get bombarded by new year resolutions and with the launch of the Genealogy Do-Over by Thomas MacEntee many of us are reviewing our work at setting ourselves goals for this coming year.

It is important that we give ourselves time to reflect and for those of us in the northern hemisphere the long winter evenings can be the best time of year to do this.

As I may have mentioned previously last January I attended one of The Boot Camps that Thomas and Lisa Alzo have been running. 

Next weekend they are running their Research Right Boot Camp (which sold out within a day), if you have not been able to sign up for this then it will be available from the following week. I have managed to sign up for this and hope to pick up some useful tips.

I have not managed to do much research at archives in the past two or three years and have been concentrating on getting a new organisation system in place. 
Those limited visits I have made were to look for parish registers not yet available online. 
I am hoping that next weekend's Boot Camp will help me optimise my research process so that I can make the most of my visit to Salt Lake City next month.

GOALS

1. Complete my reorganisation process
2. Optimise the research process
3. Ensure that all my sources are cited as accurately as possible
4. Make the most of visiting my cousins in the US and Salt Lake City for the Rootstech/FGS 2015 Conference

HOW WILL I ATTAIN THESE

This may sound a little "corny" but as the words of that song say "with a little help from my friends".

The genealogy community are a supportive group of people and by sharing and supporting each other we can all achieve our goals.

We must be realistic in what we aim to achieve and reassess the situation when we don't reach the endpoint we wanted.

Thomas MacEntee urged everyone who participating in the Genealogy Do-Over to slow down. Speed is not important getting it right is our aim.

The right plan with realistic goals will get more done. "More haste, less speed" is the saying that comes to mind.
I have parish register microfiche and some English counties have digital images available online, once I know what I have then I can concentrate my research objectives on those records not available in my home or via the Internet.
Some may say that goal number 4 should be number 1 and in the short term that is true. However without the other goals then I may not attain number 4. Goals 1 and 2 may not be reached before I leave the UK and 3 most certainly will not but that does not mean I cannot achieve number 4.

Preparation will be the key to my success and in my March post I will tell you if I achieved my goal and in April how I plan to make the most of my trip to Who Do You Think You Are Live.

Next month I hope to give you my impression of the first day at Rootstech 2015/FGS conference.