Creating a Simple Genealogy Plan for Summer

Do you know how you want to do genealogy this summer? This is my question when summer rolls around every year. What do I want to focus on with my genealogy? How do I want to schedule it into my day? My daughter will be home so do I want to involve her in family history or focus on something else with her? All of these questions float through my mind as May winds down. Do you feel the same? I know we all want our kids to have the best summer, but what does that look like? I will be focusing on how to make a genealogy plan for your summer as you are going to the pool or on vacation or doing the millionth craft for that day.

Focus-What Do You Actually Want to Do?

First, you need to figure out your genealogy focus. There’s a million things you can do with your genealogy, but I want you to find something that will bring peace and connection. Is it doing genealogy projects such as scanning photos, making scrapbooks, organizing your files, or starting a family cookbook? Or are you focusing on bringing your kids into your genealogy? I know that’s my focus this summer. I’m determined to find things that both my daughter and I love to do with genealogy. I just haven’t figured it out yet. You can also focus on doing more research. I’ve done that for past summers and have found that it works great if I break it down into small moments throughout the day. So what are you going to focus on this summer?

Schedule Your Genealogy Plan for Summer

Next, start figuring out when you’re going to do it in general. Are you planning on taking big chunks of time to do a genealogy project? Or are you doing it in small 15 min. chunks? I’ve found that when I actually write down when I’m going to do it on my calendar for that week, then I’m much more likely to do it.

Then make a bucket list of everything that you want to do for your genealogy focus. So if my focus was involving my daughter more in genealogy, then I would write down everything that pertains to that. Such as creating a FamilySearch account for her, explaining how to find her ancestors, have her upload photos onto FamilySearch, have ancestor scavenger hunts, visit some places where her ancestors lived, etc. Most of these we won’t do because we’ll be short on time and motivation, but that’s ok! Just making the list helps me see where I want to focus my energy without going to burn out!

Do the Things That Bring You Connection

Now you’re ready to do some of those activities. Again, measure your energy level and your ability to carry out your list. Don’t overdue it like I do! There are some excellent websites that will help you break down those big projects into doable things every day or every week. One of those is the 21-day connection experiment. They have plans that you can do by yourself or with your family. The point is not just to wish you could do genealogy during the summer. It’s helping you DO genealogy during the summer. Now I have yet to complete one of their plans, but they do help me have fun with my genealogy and to try new things.

Last Thoughts on Creating a Genealogy Plan for Summer

So are you ready for summer? You will be! And I will be, too. So take some time this week to think about what and how you want to do your genealogy during the summer. It’s as simple as that. It’ll be worth it!

And as always…good luck and happy hunting!

Tiffany

P.S. Related Reads…

• How to Get Your Kids Excited About Genealogy
• Genealogy Hack: Use Websites to Engage Kids
• RootsTech Connect and 4 Valuable Classes from it

P.P.S. Don’t have time this summer to do genealogy the way you want to? Then contact me for a free 30 minute consultation to get going on your family history.