Get Genealogy Work Done by Setting Small Goals



get-genealogy-work-done-by-setting-small-goals-find-more-genealogy-blogs-at-familysearch-comGenealogy research takes time. Many people feel like they can’t work on their genealogy until they have several hours of free time all in a row. How often does that kind of free time happen, though? It is entirely possible to get genealogy work done by setting small goals. Move along piece by piece instead of all at once.

Google an Ancestor
Take a few minutes on your lunch break and Google one of your ancestors. Put his or her name into Google’s Search engine box, press enter, and see what comes up. There is a chance this may give you results that are for someone else who had the same name. On the other hand, you might end up finding a blog post that has a photo of or story about that particular ancestor.

Set Up a Google Alert
A Google Alert will let you know when something new appears about a specific topic, subject, or person. To do this, you will need a gmail account. Sign into your gmail account and go to the Google Alerts website. Put your ancestor’s name into the box at the top of the page. The only thing left to do is wait for Google to alert you that it found something.

Listen to a Genealogy Podcast
Having trouble getting through a “brick wall”? There are plenty of genealogy podcast out there that might have the solution you need. In addition, a genealogy podcast could inform you about new resources, changes to popular genealogy websites, or upcoming genealogy conferences.

You can download podcasts for free and listen to them whenever you want. Many people listen to podcasts while commuting, driving to work, or doing some housecleaning.

Visit Your Local Library
Almost every public library has a genealogy section. Some have portions of the library set aside specifically for genealogists. Spend thirty minutes discovering what resources your local genealogy library has to offer. They might have family histories from local families, copies of old local newspapers, or computers where you can access Ancestry.com’s library edition.

Pick One Specific Goal
Start your next genealogy research session with one, very specific, goal. Do not let yourself get distracted from the goal you picked. Everything else can wait until next time.

Maybe you want to search Find A Grave for a photo of a relative’s headstone. Or, your goal could be to see if Ancestry.com has details about great Aunt Myrtle’s wedding certificate.

Related Articles at FamilyTree.com:

* Ideas for Less Than Half-Hour

* Take the 30 Day Genealogy Challenge

* Make a Short Video From Photos

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