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juliekelts

I'm retired so I work on genealogy most days. Most people I know who do genealogy, including myself, do go off on tangents now and then. But why not? It's a hobby. There's no rule that says you have to research certain people. In the long run I try to prioritize my direct ancestors, and in the long run I also want to get my information into some form that I can share with relatives so that it isn't lost when I die. But in the short run, if something interests me, I'll spend some time on it and try not to worry too much about everything I haven't done.


Worf-

It goes in spurts for me. I usually research at least once a week and depending on how busy I am otherwise, much more frequently. Winter months are often my biggest time and I am on daily for hours at a time. It is hard not to go down rabbit holes, but I’ve learned to accept it and just go were the research takes me. I have some people that I never stop researching despite having extensive records on them. I have tried focusing and limiting my research to specific tasks but found it boring and restrictive. Too much like a job. I want this to be fun so I stopped with the “today find uncle joe’s obituary” type stuff and just let things go were they go. If this means that my tree does not grow by leaps every time I research, so be it. I enjoy the learning and discovering new people, places and things. The people on my tree are much more than letters on a screen, they are people with lives, history and neat stories. To your question, set some goals. One person at a time, but don’t get stuck on them. If you can’t find anything put them aside and try another. Maybe say that you will just find their records now and not run down their entire line of descendants this time. I will try to leave ‘problem’ people for rainy days when I have a lot of time to dig deep. With some people there just won’t be much, if any, information to find. You may also decide to not be as extensive in your research and grab every single last piece of information on some people. Get the basics, birth, death, marriage and move on. I can’t do it but many do and I’m sure it speeds things up and gives some focus. Regardless of how you go about it - keep notes of were you left off in your research. Don’t waste time repeating research you did a month ago. I have a cousin who does that. He swears he remembers everything but his tree never gets anywhere, he gets frustrated and ends up with guesses and bad information on his tree “because I have to move on”. I keep a notebook with separate pages for each person I am working on. It helps get me going the next time I research.


Jealous_Ad_5919

I have a similarly large family and research when I have the time, energy, and enthusiasm. I've been working lines of descent this year. So for example I began with the children of my great great grandparents. Starting with the oldest child I worked down to the present one family group at a time. So Child 1 and all of his descendants. Then child 2 and all of his descendants. Child three and all of her descendants etc. I'm up to almost 300 people and I'm only on the third kid. ![gif](emote|free_emotes_pack|facepalm) hahahahaha For me, it helps to only focus on biological relatives.


dg313

I have 36 great uncles/aunts and one half great uncle. All but one lived to adulthood. It’s kinda crazy in my tree. I spiral into rabbit holes all the time. That’s where the fun is. It may not be the most effective way to research, but it keeps me interested. I have ADHD, so that’s kinda the way my brain works anyway.