On Wishes, Goals, and Plans

To take this genealogy and family history project seriously, and to get beyond fanciful ideas and lofty goals, I’ll need to create a plan and implement it. And having enjoyed keeping a bullet-journal in the past, I’ll present my project in an online bullet-journal format, wherever possible. I find the bullet journal format creatively presents both qualitative and quantitative data in a digestible way as I venture through the less exciting parts of my research. As with any goal, success comes with planning, which requires defining goals into actionable results by way of a project.

If the insightful quote from Saint-Exupery has any credence, then plan I must. So, I’ll periodically post status updates on the various projects that contribute to my research. Some projects will take years to complete, and others I should finish in the upcoming months. I figure if I share my plans, I’ll be more accountable for their implementation…let’s see if that works.

Project Updates:
I’ll create snapshots and post updates for in-flight projects at the end of each month to track my progress. The updates will incorporate some bullet journal like project trackers which combine project management with info-graphic features…just to make it fun.So far, I have these projects in the pipeline:

1. Family History
1. Roots & Leaves Website: Design and Develop the Roots-and-Leaves.com website. The website will serve as my online bullet journal essentially.
2. Family Interviews: Conduct a series of interviews with my family to capture family information from primary sources.
3. Photo Digitization: Scan and digitize all family photos (35mm slides and photo prints) in phases.
4. Family History Narratives: write family history narratives based on research.
2. Genealogy
1. TNG Genealogy Portal: Genealogy web application to capture, share and manage ancestry data.
2. Genealogy Research: Ongoing genealogical research to build the family tree with facts and sources.
3. World History
1. Historical Research: Ongoing historical research to develop a backdrop from which to contextualize family history.
2. Social History: Ongoing social history research to develop a backdrop from which to contextualize societal aspects family history.
3. Comparative History: Ongoing comparative historical research to develop a backdrop from which to contextualize family history.

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