Mid-Year Review of 2019 Genealogy Goals

My Genealogy Goals for 2019  are to organize my genealogy files, digital and paper.

Several weeks ago Lauren asked me about the progress on my resolution and I thought it would be useful  to review how the Goals are coming along.

It keeps me accountable to accomplishing my goals and lets you know how we all struggle with our genealogy research.

First a quick review. I broke up the process into six steps:

1. Dedicate a  minimum of 2 hours per week on the project. It is important to schedule time for this task.
2. File all of my loose papers that are currently covering multiple surfaces in my home.  
3. Organize my digital files.
• Assign naming scheme to ALL my files. 
• Convert JPEG files into a format that isn't "lossy", such as TIFF. 
• Do this before tackling my paper file folders, so that any papers that I want to scan can go into the newly cleaned up digital folders.  
4. Keep both digital and paper files. L.O.C.K.S.S. - Lots Of Copies Keep Stuff Safe.  I back up my computer files regularly.
5. Tackle my paper file folders. Again, I have created a system that works for me, but it needs to applied to all the file folders.  
6. Clean up my binders (remember #4!) 
• Binders that family members can browse. 
• Updated, and cleaned up
• Using archival materials.

So how are my Genealogy Goals coming along?

1. Dedicate 2 hours per week on the project. I will admit that I don't always get in 2 hours every week. But then there are weeks that I work 4-10 hours on the project, so it evens out. I have gotten distracted several times. A first cousin once removed contacted me about our DNA connection. Since we had lost contact with that branch of the JOHNSON family, I couldn't let that sit. I now have filled in that branch considerably. Several "cousins" were very active on a Facebook page dedicated to the home county. We were comparing notes on what we knew about the many, many, many offspring of our common Great Great Grandfather.
2. The loose papers are filed. And while it seems that I am constantly generating more and more paperwork, I am keeping up with it.
3. Organize my digital files. Oy vey! First, know that I only meant the digital files that comprise my FAMILY HISTORY Research. Not all my photo files from the 90's onward taken with various digital camera devices. But still, I should have evaluated just how many files that encompasses.  Several months into the project, I did an inventory and this is what I discovered: 

Screen shot of my Family History folder on my computer. Each
surname has a folder. Folder names that are all in capital letters
have been "cleaned up."

1. I had over 10,000 files in 30 main folders and 344 subfolders. 
2. The smallest folder, the COCKERELL surname, had only 1 file in it. 
3. My largest folder, the JOHNSON surname, contains 78 subfolders and 3,018 files.
4. Another inventory shows that only 1,403 files have been "cleaned up", or only 14%.

WHEW!

The project suddenly seemed really overwhelming.

Okay, knowing this, maybe it isn't reasonable to get this all done in one year.

But that doesn't mean that I have to give up on my goals.

I will just keep plugging away at it and if I don't get everything done by the end of the year, I won't beat myself up about it.

But I won't stop working on it either...

Since I started this blog last week, I have finished 3 of the 78 sub-folders in the JOHNSON folder...

How are you doing with your 2019 genealogy goals?