What should I work on?
It has now been months since I posted anything on this page. I have been having trouble getting motivated to work on my genealogy research and this website. Everything seems to take forever—even more so since I put it off when it seems overwhelming. Some of the issue may be that my goals are bigger than my available time, and I am a bit of a perfectionist. Since I do this for fun, as a hobby, I don’t want to simply “get it done” and there is no one requiring me to do or finish anything. In the spirit of a new year (though I traditionally resist New Year’s Resolutions), I have decided to set a goal for this page – to post something at least once per week.
Since goals are nothing without a plan to reach them, I have a few ideas:
Try the 15-minutes per day approach to genealogy. Best practice for research is to have a clear question and make a plan for how to answer it. Each week, I will set a target question, and identify discrete research approaches and 15 minute tasks that can be tackled daily.
Accept posts that are less completely researched. I have not felt comfortable posting unless a story is extremely researched and cited. While I will still aim to ensure that what I share is documented so that my findings can be checked, duplicated, or built on, I will keep many posts shorter and/or note when information is missing or sources have not been checked, so as not to prevent me from posting.
Set aside time. Set a standard day and time each week that I will work on and complete my weekly post for the website.
Connect with family. At least once per month, I will talk to a family member who has an interest in our genealogy to inspire and motivate me, and to hopefully build the number of contributors to the page.
Photo: 1952 Barton Family New Year’s Card
To get me started, here are some of the areas of research that come quickly to mind, which I can build research questions for. What do you think I should work on?
Orphan Annie Laurie Murrey’s parents, becoming an orphan, and connections to French settlers around Louisiana? Can Gloria Suess’s DNA help answer some questions? (Annie Laurie Murrey was Beverly Ann Suess’s paternal grandmother.)
Robert Barton’s DNA, and what it can help us to know about where in England he came from and his first Barton ancestor to come to the U.S., and who Isaac Barton’s (Bob’s 2nd great grandfather) parents were?
Morgan/Bukey/Slater/Turner great grandparents of Robert Barton in Virginia/West Virginia/Ohio, and their possible connections to slavery and conflict with Native Americans
Harry George Boyer’s time in the Navy. We now have his discharge papers.
Pauline Houtz’s great grandparents—particularly the Fitterer/Fitterys and the Spanglers—I don’t have a lot of information on them
Are there any other areas you would like me to look into? Any information you have and would like to share related to any of these areas? Are there any areas you would like to work on with me? Let me know in the comments.