How to Organize Genealogy Research:Goodbye Overwhelm, Hello Gorgeous Family History Library!
How to Organize Genealogy Research: Goodbye Overwhelm, Hello Gorgeous Family History Library!
INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZING - The Essentials…
Feel like your Genealogy research to-do list is never-ending? Here’s how to take back control:
Organizing family history can feel like an enormous challenge, especially if you’ve spent years gathering photos, documents, and stories. But here’s the truth: you don’t need to organize everything at once. As someone passionate about decluttering, I’ve learned that small, manageable steps are the key to success. By focusing on one story at a time, you’ll build habits that make organizing simple, smooth, and even fun. Ready to say goodbye to overwhelm? Let’s dive in!
💗Start Small: Focus on One Story at a Time
One of the most common mistakes when organizing family history is trying to tackle everything at once. It’s like standing at the foot of a mountain and wondering how you’ll ever reach the top. But what if you focused on just one step at a time?
Start with a single ancestor or one branch of your family tree. Gather everything you have on that person—photos, birth certificates, old letters—and organize only that story. You’ll find that focusing on one individual helps you avoid the feeling of being overwhelmed and allows you to celebrate each completed story as a win.
Hero Tip: You don’t need to start at the beginning. Choose the ancestor who interests you most or the one with the most complete story to get momentum going!
Example Project: Create a profile for your great-grandmother. Collect her birth and marriage records, scan her favorite recipes, and jot down any family stories you’ve heard about her. When you finish, you’ll have a beautiful, organized mini profile or the makings of a beautiful book ready to share, just by pulling together the items you already had to hand! Easy!
1. Use Templates to Make It Easy and Fun
Don’t waste time creating layouts from scratch—templates are your secret weapon. Our Simple 2-Page Family Profile Templates for Canva make organizing easy, even if you’re not a designer. They’re pre-formatted to include space for photos, vital records, and key stories, so all you have to do is fill in the blanks.
Using templates turns what could feel like tedious work into a creative, rewarding process. You’ll see your family’s history come to life on the page without spending hours formatting or designing. Canva is free to use and incredibly intuitive, making it the perfect tool for beginners and seasoned family historians alike.
Hero Tip: Think of templates as puzzle pieces. They give you a clear framework, and you just fill in the missing pieces with your family’s story.
Example Use: Upload photos and documents to Canva, add your ancestor’s name, and write a short biography using a template. In minutes, you’ll have a polished, beautiful profile ready to share with family members.
2. Tidy as You Go: Build Simple, Effective Habits
One of the joys of focusing on small projects is that you’re naturally tidying and managing your research as you go. Each time you uncover new information—whether it’s a photo from an old album or a new document from an online archive—you’ll already have a system in place.
Instead of letting new research pile up, you’ll automatically organize it into the right folder, both physically and digitally. Over time, this will become your standard process, and you’ll never feel buried under a mountain of papers again.
Decluttering Insight: Just like keeping your home tidy by putting things away immediately, organizing family history as you go prevents clutter from building up.
Example Habit: Each time you discover new research, add it directly into a labeled binder or digital folder. Create a habit of updating your family profiles regularly, so your work remains organized and up-to-date.
TAKE AN EXTRA MINUTE RIGHT NOW TO DO SOMETHING THAT FUTURE YOU WILL THANK YOU FOR. IT WILL SAVE YOU HOURS…
3. Repetition: Follow a fun and manageable daily routine, and skip the overwhelm!
No matter how small the action, repetition has a powerful impact on your output and takes the stress of “Project Managing” your process militantly or making it feel like a chore, which is the absolute last thing you want to associate with your creative family research journey, be it a hobby or a dedicated project for your family Genealogy society group.
Instead of letting new research pile up, you’ll automatically organize it into the right folder, both physically and digitally. Over time, this will become your standard process, and you’ll never feel buried under a mountain of papers again.
How to play small for big results: Spending just 10-20 minutes a day will have a huge impact on how much you can get through, and will ensure your genealogy organizing projects stay enjoyable, satisfying and productive.
SO, WHERE TO NOW? PUTTING THIS ALL INTO ACTION:
💗REMEMBER: Celebrate Progress, Not Perfection!
It’s tempting to wait until everything is perfect to start. But perfection is the enemy of progress. Your family’s story doesn’t need to be flawless—it just needs to be told. Celebrate every small step you take. Completing even one family profile is an accomplishment worth recognizing!
Remember, the goal is not to create a perfect book on the first try. It’s about making progress. Over time, you’ll refine your work, but getting started is the most important part.
Motivational Tip: Done is better than perfect. Each finished page brings you closer to creating a legacy your family will treasure.
Example Mindset Shift: Instead of aiming for a “perfect” family history, aim for “done.” Completing just one page means you’ve taken the first step to preserving a story, and that’s the real win!
✅Stay on Track with a Checklist - I created a FREE one, just for you!
We all have moments when we feel stuck or tempted to step away from a project. That’s why I’ve created a Free Staying Focussed Family History Checklist you can download to keep you on track. This checklist offers simple reminders to help you push through moments of doubt and stay on task.
Whenever you feel overwhelmed, glance at the checklist for a quick boost of motivation. It’s designed to remind you why you started and how far you’ve come.
Hero Tip: Keep the checklist nearby as a reminder that you’re capable of finishing what you’ve started—one step at a time.
Just imagine having a beautifully organized family history library that’s fuss-free and easy to maintain.
By
focusing on one story at a time,
use templates that save you time, and
follow your checklist
…you will develop go-to habits that keep your research neat and manageable without the headaches. Soon, organizing family history won’t feel like a chore—it will be something you look forward to!
Click Here to Download Your FREE Checklist for Staying Focused on Your Family History Story Projects
Goodbye Overwhelm, Hello Fuss-Free Family History Library!👇🏼
Ready to take the next step?
Imagine the cumulative effect of completing just one 2-PAGE PROFILE every week...
A YEAR FROM TODAY YOU’D HAVE AN ENTIRE COLLECTION OF GORGEOUS, SHAREABLE ANCESTOR SNAPSHOTS AND A LIBRARY TO PROUDLY SHARE AS YOUR OWN.
Click below to see our Simple 2-Page Family Profile TEMPLATE in the store!
It’s free to edit in CANVA, and fully customisable. The perfect way for beginners to dip their toes into the magical world of Creative Family History design!
Combine the Template Kit with your Free Checklist and you have everything you need to create a gorgeous, fuss-free family history library. Visit the store and get started today!
ABOUT ME
Hey, I’m Suzy!
I’m a Digital History Artist, Photo Restorer & self-confessed Organizing and Genealogy nerd!
I help overwhelmed Family History Researchers clear their genealogy clutter with organizing years of hard work. Let me show you how to use Canva to collate and beautify years of research from PCs and shoeboxes, turning facts, photos, and memories into gorgeous, intriguing digital storybooks, wall art, photo books, and more.
My mission is to connect heart-centered family researchers of all levels of experience with simple design tools so that they can present their research in a beautiful and cohesive way that their families will be clamoring to read. 🎨🌳💗