Genealogy Success Team - Week One

Back in April, Laura of It's All Relative posted about a Genealogy Success Team to help give her research a boost.  As it turns out, my research (or lack thereof) also needed a swift kick in the pants - from a focus standpoint more than anything else - so I responded to her blog post.  A couple of other people did too, but they fell through, so we had to proceed with a team of two.  We had our first "meeting" by phone this morning at 7:30 EST (that's how hardcore we are!).  We discovered that we have quite a bit in common.


First, we share a brain on the purpose of our research.  We both believe that it's the stories of our entire family (not just the direct lines) that help us understand who we are, more than names, dates, and places.  We both have some very interesting ancestors.  Don't be jealous - I'm sure there are some pretty cool people in your tree too :)


Second, we both have the same problem with the Genea-Crap (if you are unfamiliar, see Kerry's blog post at Clue Wagon).


Third, we're both cat lovers.  I think that's important.  If for no other reason than an empathetic standpoint concerning researchus interruptus (that's Latin for "the cat is on my keyboard").


The purpose of the Team is to come up with goals that are reachable within the week (baby steps), and share them with each other so we are accountable to someone.  Without that accountability, I will never stay on track.  Next week, we will share our progress, brainstorm any problem areas, and make new goals for the following week.  I wrote down my goals and Laura's goals on my notepad.  That's when I realized that if I put one more piece of paper on my desk, it might collapse.  So I wrote them down on the whiteboard next to my desk:

Now it's a constant reminder.

I learned from Laura that the key is to make small, attainable goals - and then actually work toward them!    

My goals for this week are:


1. Set a schedule for blogging, researching, and transferring data from FTM to RM4.  With a full-time job and other stuff (life, etc.), without a schedule I'm doomed.
2. Organize the pile o' Genea-Crap on my desk (remember the whole collapsing thing? This is why):

Fortunately, I had managed to get all of it in one consolidated pile already.


3. Blog at least once this week - so here it is (I'm no Charlie Sheen, but I'd say that's winning!).  Check.
4. Call the Family History Library that is 10 minutes from my house and find out when they're open.


Ultimately, we are going to make so much progress that everyone else in the genea-community will be totally jealous and wish they had gotten in on the ground floor of this venture.


So I'm gonna go get started!