The Genealogy Guys point the way
Those who know The Legal Genealogist in real life, rather than virtually, know better than to use the word “organized” anywhere in the vicinity.
Just because I manage to meet the deadlines and not miss the plane does not make me organized.
And you’d know that if you ever saw the piles of papers and books in my office or the piles of papers and books in my living room or the piles of papers and books in my dining room and…
You get the picture.
And it’s not pretty.
That’s why I’m loving the new series on The Genealogy Guys Blog, featuring daily organization tips from the king of genealogical organization, Drew Smith.1
Drew started the series on New Year’s Eve with Day 0: Introducing 31 Days of Getting Organized, urging us all to “make January 2020 the month in which we start getting more organized.”2 And on the first of this year, the tips starting rolling in.
So far this January, we’ve gotten ideas that will help us:
• Day 1: Organize Your Physical Desktop3
• Day 2: Organize Your Computer Desktop4
• Day 3: Organize Your Physical Inbox5
• Day 4: Organize Your Email Inbox6
• Day 5: Organize Your Nearest Desk Drawer7
• Day 6: Organize Your Top-Level Computer Files8
• Day 7: Organize Your Nearest File Drawer9
• Day 8: Organize Your Browser Bookmarks/Favorites10
• Day 9: Organize Your Other File Drawers11
• Day 10: Organize Your RSS Feeds12
Every one of these is short, to-the-point, and helpful. And, seriously, doable for just about anybody.13
So… Read ’em.
Read the next 21.
Put ’em into practice.
Oh, and note to self: get organized!14
Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Note to self: get organized!,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 10 Jan 2020).
SOURCES
- He wrote the book, y’know. See Drew Smith, Organize Your Genealogy: Strategies and Solutions for Every Researcher (Cincinnati, Ohio : Family Tree Books, 2016). I asked my cousin to give it to me as a holiday gift one year. She did. I may actually do what it suggests … one of these days … ↩
- Drew Smith, “Day 0: Introducing 31 Days of Getting Organized,” The Genealogy Guys Blog, posted 31 Dec 2019 (http://blog.genealogyguys.com/ : accessed 10 Jan 2020). ↩
- Ibid., “Day 1: Organize Your Physical Desktop,” posted 1 Jan 2020. ↩
- Ibid., “Day 2: Organize Your Computer Desktop”, posted 2 Jan 2020. ↩
- Ibid., “ 3: Organize Your Physical Inbox”, posted 3 Jan 2020. ↩
- Ibid., “ 4: Organize Your Email Inbox”, posted 4 Jan 2020. ↩
- Ibid., “ 5: Organize Your Nearest Desk Drawer”, posted 5 Jan 2020. ↩
- Ibid., “ 6: Organize Your Top-Level Computer Files”, posted 6 Jan 2020. ↩
- Ibid., “ 7: Organize Your Nearest File Drawer”, posted 7 Jan 2020. ↩
- Ibid., “ 8: Organize Your Browser Bookmarks/Favorites”, posted 8 Jan 2020. ↩
- Ibid., “ 9: Organize Your Other File Drawers”, posted 9 Jan 2020. ↩
- Ibid., “ 10: Organize Your RSS Feeds”, posted 10 Jan 2020. ↩
- Okay, you get a pass if you’re fighting Australian bushfires or deployed to the Middle East. ↩
- So don’t bother me. I’m cleaning my desk drawer. It needs it, don’t you think? ↩
It IS a do-able bit-by-bit organization plan, isn’t it?! I don’t have as much to organize as very-busy-you, but I clean off my desk once a month. And that monthly task started one day several years ago when I was thoroughly embarrassed by the piles and piles and folders full of – post-it notes, when I had a friend over for lunch. I had hundreds and hundreds sitting around, the information not inputted into my personal tree. I sorted them into surname piles, and then stapled them to big sheets of paper, about 8-10 to a page. Over the next 6 months I slowly marked them off with a red marker as I added the information & sources to my family lines. Today, I have only 4 notes on my desk, from research two days ago that I’m still working on. Whew! One step at a time… that elephant CAN be eaten. Cheers!!
I’m lucky if I even SEE my desktop once a month.
I use to have a drawer that looked like that. My desk has no drawers, at all, anymore. I am slowly working my way through the big stack of papers that I’m putting into file folders. Now I just have to finish filling them in the new filing cabinet I bought. I have post-it notes that label what each drawer should have in it. Once that’s done I can start on the storage totes under my desk.
Its a work in progress.
Eventually, I will get it all filed and organized.
Best of luck!
I need all the luck I can get — and maybe a blowtorch… 🙂
Organizing seems like it is taking time–but, in reality, it saves time. Every time. You find things that are useful that you forgot you had (sometimes even VERY meaningful documents!) and you clear the decks for more efficient work going forward. I’m a big talker (from past experience) but have as much trouble motivating myself for the next round as anyone.
Your fellow genealogical blogger Dick Eastman has posted several helpful articles about going “paperless”; sounds like he’s been really successful at it.
At the end of last year I have been working on living a more minimalist lifestyle. My genealogist stuff is my biggest collection in my home now. Now is the time I’m ready to digitize many things I have and organize everything else. I’m looking forward to going through your tips. May 2020 be the year our genealogy gets organized. I at least have it moved to one location, not on my desk. It is a start for this year.
It’s won’t happen.
🙂