Genealogy Do-Over? What is this??

I have been away from blogging due to having surgery in July, but I am back now. I probably shouldn't have started blogging before surgery because now I am on this mission of Genealogy Do-Over and among other things =)

I have just "jumped" right in and begin my Do-Over without a plan at first. I wasn't doing my research because I was prepping for surgery, so I had already "set aside" my research. After surgery, I wasn't able to do anything just yet until about the 3 rd week when I begin to use my laptop a little more. Even though I was tempted to look up a few names, I remain true to "setting aside" my research and begin to read others posts and blogs about how they are doing their do-overs.  I am still all over the map when it comes to trying to take on the assignments. I started at the beginning with Cycle 1 Week 1 as my starting base, but I got lost in the technicality of it and sort of "skipped" the b) Preparing to Research, and c) Establishing Base Practices and Guidelines part of the assignment and jumped right into the Self- Interview part... probably because I didn't have a full understanding of how one Prepare to Research. I just usually jump right into it (you may think I am a professional jumper lol, rest assure you I am not (=  ) But this has made me step back a bit and think about how do I prepare myself to research? I am a night owl so my nights are my days in some ways. Depends on what I have going. I don't have a job I go to. I am trying to get my Online Genealogy business off the ground. A few minor set backs but, I will bounce back. Another Post about that later but for now....

A few things I did to prepare to research are:
1.   I decide who's side I am going to research today.
2.   Start a new page for the intended target ancestor (usually it is my great grandmother on my father's side.)
3.   Locate my other notes and see what is missing (in my head, I already know what is missing)
4.   Begin to search sites such as Ancestry.com, Familysearch.org or Newspaper.com, to name a few.
5.   Search and search until I feel like I am chasing a leaf that won't stay still long enough for me to  pick it up for me to examine it.

The new approach:

I am now going to do a new approach on how I do my research.  I haven't been doing it wrong just haven't been doing it right by taking the lazy approach. I now realize that I was actually working harder and not smarter when it came to my own family research.  Put me in a business mode, I do it by the book.

So... I am now going to prepare my research by making sure I am in my Genealogy Business Mode and have all my "tools" handy ie; notepad, pens/pencils, OneNote open ready to go for most of my note taking needs. I will set a timer to take a break from the research. Before, I just researched until it was time to do other things. My old ways of researching will be changing. Once I begin to research, I will be using Research Log and any other research tools to make this go as smooth as it can be... it is hard enough to hit a "brick wall" in your research, let alone forget about all the other sources out there to help out in the research.  I also plan on using a Genealogy Journal Book ( something similar to Bullet Journal) to help me stay focus and make sure I am still on track. I still have to set that one up. I fell behind in everything while I was in recovery mode, so I am playing catch up one step at a time. I will be backing all this research up with my external hard drives (2) and my OneDrive.
While I was in recovery, I had the chance to go through my laptop files and sort out MOST of my files by renaming the file and putting it in its new file folder.  I still have a long ways to go on this one because I am also scanning all my genealogy notes over the last 28+ years. I have my father's mother side scanned, renamed, filed and backed up. This was my largest file. But most of all I will be Citing all my sources correctly for past and current documents I have or will obtained! I saved this last because it is important to do next to backing up your files!

So my way of thinking may be out of sorts or as I like to put it "all over the map", I intend to try and tame that mind of mine but key word here is try because even though I tend to gravitate toward BSO (Bright Shiny Objects).... I am a researcher at heart.. not just Genealogy but different things. I am always searching the web for ways make my life more organize or ways to re-purpose things or just searching the web in general.

I have some more thinking to do as far as coming up with more GUIDELINES to follow so that I won't be all over the map and be able to break down that Brick WALL of my great-grandmother on my father's side. That would be a dream come true for me !!

So......... Who is ready to HIT The Reset Button?? If you are interested in wanting to Do-Over your Genealogy Research in a new approach.. Just hit the reset button by Clicking on the link underneath the button and Join in on the fun.  I promise you it will give you new insights to what and how or even where you really need this in your genealogy research life. You must be thinking... Start over as in from scratch? YES, it is doable and even rewarding =)  You won't have to spend any extra money for the documents you have obtained from previous research... just need to keep them accessible for ONLY when it comes time to use it as a "proof".  So if you do decide to begin a Genealogy Do-Over... be sure to join Thomas MacEntee's Facebook Group: Genealogy Do-Over.  This group is phenomenal. There are many other groups that go hand in hand with this GDO ^ so be sure to become active in those as well. Happy Do-Over!

Genealogy Do-Over Begins Here!

                                                             




Renee ~~