It’s
a new year again. Already! Did you accomplish what you wished last year, genealogically speaking? Many of you have been working the Genealogy Do-Over system to sort through research challenges, but let's talk about the state of your filing system, your bookshelves, your research toolkit, and the stuff you've inherited (if you are lucky!) Maybe some of you are in the same boat as Ol' Myrt here. It seems there are too many "should-have-dones" on my 2015 To Do List. Let's not let those old, unfulfilled promises keep us in a muddle.
This is the checklist of things to accomplish this week. By the end of the year, we should have just about everything of a family history nature organized. The car maintenance, housework, laundry and yard work will go to pot -- but then, who's perfect? Just order in Chinese, and Let's Get Organized!

Make five basic categories:
- To Be Filed
- Letters/Email to Write
- Research to Do
- Photos - For now put all the photos in a box, a suitcase or a dresser drawer. We will tackle them later.
- Books

Though you may prefer to go strictly digital, you will have to consider archiving precious, one-of-a-kind original family history photos and documents. Except for special over-sized items, I believe insertable 3-ring binders are the way to go, but...
I've got a confession to make. Years ago, I made a mistake purchasing white insertable 3-ring binders when I should have chosen black. Why? Quite simply because after about 30+ years, those white binders are looking a little grimy. Sadly this is true to a lesser degree for rarely studied binders left sitting on my shelves.
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IMAGE: Licensed by Adobe Stock. |

NOTE: Digitally-oriented genealogists may wish to add a second or third monitor. I gave you the sneak peek yesterday, but here are the details on that nifty portable monitor on the left. It is USB driven and was recommended by Dick Eastman. Cousin Russ and I use this third monitor every day. It's an AOC E1649FWU 16-inch LED LCD Monitor.
Got books? Consider getting a new shelving system. If you are like me, I remade a guest bedroom into my computer room years ago. I managed to fit in three bookcases quite nicely. With two or three, you'll be set for organizing those must-have genealogy books and the essential surname notebooks we will be creating. I've visited some nationally-ranked genealogy bloggers and presenters' home offices, and discovered we have one thing in common -- we all seem to like the IKEA Billy bookcases, usually without doors. Maybe we're personally keeping IKEA in business?
Affiliate: Amazon.com |

NOTE: Digitally-oriented genealogists may wish to color code their Evernote files and folders to accomplish this, using advice from:
- Bringing Colour Back to the Evernote interface using Emoji (video) by Doug Cuiter
Affiliate: Amazon |

NOTE: Digitally-oriented genealogists can make this a colored computer folder using advice from these resources:
- Color coding Google Docs Folders by Ladybug's Teacher Files
- Change Folder Options from Microsoft
- Folder Colorizer from CNet

For this method, you'll need a place like Henry's toy box, where he can quickly hide things when his mom says he must clean up his room before dinner.
Of course, we'll be just a tad more organized. We are adults after all.

And one more BRIGHT IDEA - Open up an Amazon Prime account. I've had things like wheelchairs and even an inflatable hot tub delivered free of charge. And the price for the item was not inflated to make up the difference. Ol' Myrt here wouldn't steer you wrong. I've had all my printer paper shipped here, and those boxes are heavy. Now with Amazon Prime's streaming audio and video, the value gets better every year.
That's this week's FINALLY Get Organized! Checklist. It wasn't that bad, was it? Ol' Myrt here knows you've been itching to get some bright new sticky notes, and rearrange that computer desk. Now go for it!
Want to Hangout?
We will be discussing this week's checklist during our Mondays with Myrt hangout. Here's the link to register using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Google+. http://hangouts.dearmyrtle.com/next-hangout.html Now everyone can view and comment. With my new hangout interface, you only need a Google account if you want to appear as a filmstrip panelist.
Here's the link to the calendar of other upcoming DearMYRTLE genealogy hangouts: http://hangouts.dearmyrtle.com/calendar.html
FOR FURTHER READING
- ANNOUNCING: FINALLY Get Organized! 2016 Weekly Checklists
- ANNOUNCING: Finally Get Organized! 2016 Weekly Checklists
- FINALLY Get Organized! Participant Badges
- FINALLY Get Organized! Monthly Awards
- FINALLY Get Organized! One place to look for all checklists
- FINALLY Get Organized! My desk is ready, is yours?
- FINALLY Get Organized! 3rd-9th Jan 2016 Checklist (This is it!)
- FINALLY Get Organized! 10th-16th Jan 2016 Checklist
- FINALLY Get Organized!17th-23rd Jan Checklist
- FINALLY Get Organized! 24th-30th Jan Checklist
- FINALLY Get Organized! 31st Jan- 6th Feb Checklist
- Jan 2016 Participation Form (If you want to be eligible for the January prize!)
Happy family tree climbing!
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Your friend in genealogy
http://blog.DearMYRTLE.com
http://hangouts.DearMYRTLE.com
http://www.facebook.com/groups/DearMYRTLE
https://www.facebook.com/groups/organizedgenealogist
Myrt :)
DearMYRTLE,
Your friend in genealogy
http://blog.DearMYRTLE.com
http://hangouts.DearMYRTLE.com
Twitter: @DearMYRTLE
Second Life: Clarise Beaumont
http://bit.ly/DearMYRTLEonGooglehttp://www.facebook.com/groups/DearMYRTLE
https://www.facebook.com/groups/organizedgenealogist
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REGISTER NOW: http://www.RootsTech.org |
Hangouts: Pay what you want. So it's simple. If you value the work Ol' Myrt, +Cousin Russ and our beloved panelists do week in and week out on your behalf, please:
Check the DearMYRTLE Hangouts Calendar for upcoming study groups and hangouts. There you'll find links to the GeneaConference (in-person) and the GeneaWebinars Calendar with over over 200 hours of online genealogy classes, webinars, live streams and tweetchats from other hosts and presenters over the next 12 months.
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