Motivation Monday: January Goals
Here we are, the first week of the new year and I plan to start the year off right. At the end of last month, I wrote my 2012 Genealogy Goals, I hope to break them down month by month to make sure I come somewhere close to achieving them by the end of the year.
So, for the month of January I am going to start with two of these goals.
1. Researching my Richmond line. This is the line that I seem to make the most family connections with and I want to get it straightened out. Some say that this line goes back to Thomas Rogers of the Mayflower, so I want to reanalyze all the information I have, 1 generation at a time. I am going to start by making a chart for each generation. On this chart, I plan to mark off all of the records that I can find, such as birth, marriage, death, and census, you get the picture. This will probably take me some time to do, so I want to get on this right away.
Organization – My genealogy stuff is scattered throughout my house. Some in my bedroom, some in the living room and some in the basement. I need to get it all in one are where it will be accessible at all times. To start this project off, I am going to move all genealogy into the basement (which is where my office is). That should only take me a few hours to do. From there, I need to get all books on one book shelf. As of right now, I have a small rolling book shelf (think wooden library cart on wheels) that will be perfect to use. From here, I want to start cleaning my one file box that I have for genealogy. Each year I pull a file and it never makes it back into the box. Some are on my desk, some in my briefcase, again I am sure you get the picture. I procrastinate.
As for other things I would like to accomplish this month are making it to the Irish American Heritage Center at the end of the Month for their genealogy meeting, I am also planning to go hear Tim Pinnick speak (I think that is January 10) and then I also have planned to meet up with Jen Holik-Urban, for a day at the archives and another meeting about Italian ancestry. Lots planned for the month. I will be posting on Friday’s about my progress.
My genea buddy Steph has her monthly goals up here.
Hey Terri – finally got up the post with link-up (late!) Sorry about that! Great plans for January! http://cornandcottongenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/01/motivation-monday-january-2012-goals.html?spref=tw
Thanks Steph. Better late than never, lol! Looking forward to see where Jan lands for all of us.
Great goals! It really is easier to keep up with our work product when everything is in the same space! Good luck! You’ll knock these out in no time.
Thanks Leslie, the organizational goal is really my big focus for the month. I know that without this, nothing else can be accomplished!
I am glad I am not the only person who is going to work on organization of my genealogy materials and get them centralized. This is the only goal I am going to set for now. I will have a new space in a few more days and I want to set it up so that I can be productive.
Janet, One goal is more than enough. I seem to get in over my head each year. I am sure I am this year as well. But, I will see where it goes. Good luck on getting organized and I hope your new space ends up being all you hoped for!
Wonderful goals, Terri! Getting everything into one space will be a great way to start off the year. My stuff is spread around too, mostly in the living room (where I have a desk) and dining room (where I’ve taken over the table). It’d love to have a dedicated space. I also like your idea of creating a chart to track the records you have on your ancestors. Best wishes to you as you get started!
Thanks Shelley, Seems like your genealogy stuff is like mine – everywhere!
As for the chart, I think I found that in one of my early genealogy books. In this book, you can rip out pages and copy them so you can utilize all the charts they talk about. They give you a few of each chart. I have only taken 1 of each out and mark them a master copy with a yellow highlighter and then make copies of them (the yellow highlighter usually does not show any marks when you make a copy – this is a trick from my retail management days).
Best wishes to you in 2012!