Ok, this happens to me more times than I care to admit, but when I am searching my personal family tree, I have G.R.E.A.T. intentions on staying focused on a certain section, specific siblings and it never fails, 3 hours later I am COMPLETELY on the other side of the tree, captivated by stories and photos and Gosh oh Golly, I MUST read it all and save it so I don't forget! Please, tell me I am not the only one this happens to!!!!
So, what I have HAD to start doing is making a small list of very specific people, under each name a goal(s) that I want to achieve for that specific section, like civil war document, land title, birth record, you get the point. If I didn't do this, I would have my 15th cousin 45 times removed (I really loooooooooathe the removed business ha), on my family tree before I had Great-Grandma Della because I got myself side-tracked!
The other thing I have done as well is I work with two trees, one is my direct blood lines and ONLY that going back on my paternal and maternal sides. My other tree has the cousins of cousins and 5th wife with 14 kids on it, I kid you not, ok I am from Oklahoma farm and Indian lands so yeah, we grow them big out here!
It is SUPER important as a Genealogist for our clients sake, time and money, to keep goals set, expectations as well so that when the project has reached its completion, there is great reward for both parties. The same can be said in our own personal journeys through our pasts.
Have a wonderful weekend, see you tomorrow!
Happy Hunting
~Alisha
Funny, I have genealogy ADD as well. For me that is the fun of it. After all, I am still learning things, right? But, like you, I created a specific list of goals that I leave on my desktop so when I find myself wandering I can reign it in. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWhen I am searching for someone/something and I come across an item of interest that I want to research further, I note it in an excel spreadsheet research log to follow up on. It lets me continue with my original objective without feeling like I am missing some other important information.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Theresa (Tangled Trees)
So very true, in both cases! Thank you for coming by ! Let me know if either of you blog, I would love to return the favor!
ReplyDelete