When Life Gets in the Way of Genealogy
Uncovering the mysteries of the past is such a passion for me that I've been going through withdrawal the past few months. Life has just been a "handle one thing at a time" affair lately. Of course, I'm also lucky enough to make a living from genealogy so the joys haven't escaped me all together. But the ideas and projects are still stacking up, my certification application has been on my "to do" list for years, and my own personal research has been on the back burner so long that I'm going to have to take a refresher course when I get back to it!
I guess my point here is that I need to make time for my genealogy, in the same way I make time to cook dinner, visit with my mother-in-law, or drive my kids to soccer or gymnastics. Knowing that and saying that isn't always as easy as doing it, however. I still find myself falling into the trap of looking at my own personal genealogy goals and research as an "extracurricular" activity - one that keeps getting put off as not quite as important as something else on the list. While I have been extremely busy lately, however, this is something that seems to hold true for most of us. So what do you do to make time for genealogy when life gets in the way?
Comments
I sacrific SLEEP! And work into the wee hours of the night. It’s quiet then, and everyone else is asleep so they can’t interupt me.
My basic philosophy, especially when I teach my genealogy classes, is to work on your research, typing, general organization,scanning, and filing a little bit every day. If not, you will find yourself very overwhelmed and frustrated.
I try to schedule a genealogy vacation about once every 18 months. I week in Salt Lake alone and spend 1-2 hours a week the month before preparing my research goals and a notebook to take with me.
I’m going to echo what Ellen said..I sacrifice sleep. I’ve only been doing this for a week and a half now, but I think in this entire time I’ve only racked up about 72 hours of sleep.
I’ve been trying to work on some sort of schedule for my researching. I get home from work between 5 & 5:30 and take care of everything non-genealogy related first. I give myself until 9 or 9:30 to get as much done as I can and after that my time is mine to take care of all my research information.
I PRAY! I have this saying that I tell my fellow researchers when I hit a brick wall or feel that I am getting no where..”I turn to my genealogy angels up above to take over.” When I am working on a particular ancestors family but can’t find what I am really looking for to be sure the data I have is the “real deal” I say a little prayer to angels up above to show me a sign…most of the time, I find one a day or two later, it falls right into my lap! So when I find that I am swamped and can’t fit my passion in, I pray that I find the time and sure enough I some how find the time!!!!
I like the way Diana does it. I’m not very ‘religious,’ but there have been several times when an urge takes over, and I just follow it up. It’s kind of like a ‘calling’ to research some item. So, it’s not me making the time, it’s some outside force that ‘lets me’ make time.
Similiar to Diana and Francis, if I hit a brick wall, I ask the ancestor I’m working on for clues. You’d be surprised how often something just pops up. Even though I have a full time job, I make some extra money working genealogy and treat my own family tree as a paying job. I’m also working towards my certification so making time is critical since I only have a year to complete the process. I think if you truly love what you are doing, you’ll always find time.
I really like #7 comment. It had not occured to me to douse for an answer. I douse health issues but never thought of dousing for ancestor information.
I find genealogy to be a great treasure hunt for nuggets of information. It takes LOTS of time. (Sleep, what’s that?) It is fun to find out when your family came over to the New World/USA, and frustrating to find out that your father’s grandfather had his name changed from something else to Jones.