Ancestry Magazine

I always wished that I were more like “Daddy”—the uncle who raised me. He must have been the most organized person I’ve ever known.

My cluttered desk stands in stark contrast to his desk. Every paper and writing tool was kept neatly and exactly where he knew to find it. The organization strategy that served him into old age was to keep everything in its proper place and to set aside a certain time of each day to do the work that had to be done. At his own appointed time each day, he said his prayers, climbed the mountain to the office near the mine where he worked, supervised workers, typed reports, filed the carbon copies, and did everything for himself that office assistants do in most workplaces these days. He was a time management expert on the job.

Perhaps just as important, my uncle never failed to set aside time for himself in the evenings. He enjoyed writing letters and reading the daily newspapers, The Saturday Evening Post, and Look magazine. To my delight, he saved twenty minutes every evening to read me a bedtime story. Then, weather permitting, his ritual was to “step outside” and look at the stars as he planned his next day.

Whenever I can, I love to work on my own family history. The problem is that “whenever I can” rarely happens—and that’s been going on for at least thirty years now. Like many of us, my intentions are great, but we’re leading busy and complicated lives. Trying to squeeze in a few inconsistent hours of research leaves me with ever-growing masses of unorganized research results.

In talking with many of you, I get the clear message that I’m not alone in not finding the time to enjoy this importan t family history work of ours. In fact, a recent discussion on the mailing list for the Association of Professional Genealogists revealed that most of us haven’t spent a measurable amount of time on our own projects in all the years since we became professionals.

As this new year begins, maybe it’s not too late for all of us to get organized and make time for the things that give us pleasure. If we were to set aside just a few hours for ourselves at certain times of the week—exclusively for the purpose of working on our own family histories—not only will we feel a sense of accomplishment, but we will leave a legacy of family history and family love for the generations to come.

Weather permitting, I’m going to step outside, look at the stars, and plan my next day.