Genealogy Success Team - Week Two

We're off to a positive start!  This was quite a successful week with completed goals, newly-found cousins, and even some surprises!  I even managed to find time to revamp my blog template.  


As I mentioned last week in my post here, the Genealogy Success Team is the swift kick in the pants I needed to get some things done.  To recap, my goals from last week were:


1. Set a schedule for blogging, researching, and transferring data from FTM to RM4.  With a full-time job and other stuff (life, etc.).
Done.  Laura did, however, point out that I didn't schedule time to eat.  I think it was my subconscious telling me that I could afford to skip a meal or two. 
2. Organize the pile o' Genea-Crap on my desk.
Done.  Surprisingly enough, it didn't take me nearly as long as I thought it would.  This was a little disappointing - not that it didn't take long, but that it took me so long to get around to doing something that didn't take that long.
3. Blog at least once this week.
Done.
4. Call the Family History Library that is 10 minutes from my house and find out when they're open.

Done.  I didn't even have to call.  Their hours are listed on the website, which I have incorporated into my schedule.

I wanted my schedule to be as simple as possible, which (to me) meant it would be an Excel spreadsheet.  This is what I came up with:

Just to be clear, the times that are highlighted for the FHL are not all the times I am going to be at the library.  Those are just the times that the library is open, so I can plan everything else around that.  (And for those who are wondering, even though I graduated a couple of weekends ago, I still have to take one more class - College Algebra - to complete all of my classes, hence the time allotted for study. Ugh).  So my schedule will have to be amended in August when that class is done, which will just leave more time for research!

Genea-crap update: As I mentioned, the pile o' crap on my desk didn't take as long to go through as I initially anticipated.  I had several back issues of Casefile Clues that are "to be read" (they got their own file) and some stuff that can be classified as reference material.  When all was said and done, my "to do" pile was significantly smaller and a LOT less intimidating.  Here is my nice, clean desk.  The top bin in the front left portion of the photo is my new "to do" pile.

As I was going through the pile, I ran across DearMYRTLE's Organization Checklists (January through May).  As I went through them, I realized I'm not as behind as I thought on those, either.  January, February, and March are complete, and I only have one or two items left for April and May.  I won't be caught up by the time her June checklist comes out, but I'm closer than I was before!

I will let Laura update you on her progress, but let me just say that I'm SUPER proud of her accomplishments this week!  She even made some progress that she didn't anticipate!


Since this is a long holiday weekend, my goals got a little bigger:


1. Fully transfer at least 5 people from FTM to RM4 (with corresponding hard file).
2. Fully update at least 1 WikiTree profile. (See my blog post here for the reason behind this)
3. Blog at least once this week (I'm going to start saying "other than my Success Team update post").
4. Now that I know their hours, visit the Family History Library to ask about their process, what collections they have, etc. so I can get organized before I start researching there.


I'm not making it an official goal, but I'd like to also visit my county library and take a look at their genealogy and historical collections and see if they have anything to offer.  At the very least, I may be able to post the collections on RAOGK.


I'd better go get started on my list!  GO TEAM!