Celebrating Cynthia: Overcoming Obstacles in Creating a Family History Archive
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In the world of genealogy and family history, we all know the overwhelming feeling of being surrounded by boxes of photos, videos, and documents, each item holding a piece of our family's story. It's easy to feel frustrated or unsure about where to begin. But today, I want to shine a spotlight on a remarkable member of my Organize Your Digital Memories Club who is facing this challenge head-on and we worked together this past weekend to get her started on her journey!
This is a glimpse of her initial top-level structure as we worked to get her setup.
From Overwhelm to Organization
Cynthia has been researching her family for many years and as you might expect and can probably relate to, she’s gathered many photos and documents along the way. She’s determined to preserve it for the future and I was honored to meet with her and work out a plan together; we are both excited!
Here are some of the steps we are doing/will do:
Digitize, Digitize, Digitize: This is an important first step – those physical items are great candidates for digitization so they can be enjoyed more broadly! We set Cynthia up with the digitization services she needs to get assistance starting the process.
Set Clear Goals: As we spoke, we defined what Cynthia wanted to achieve and set a few early goals; we will work together over the next few weeks to hit the ground running.
Establish Discrete Tasks: Being overwhelmed is real! So many of us can relate. Cynthia and I will work together to parcel the “big” things into smaller, doable chunks of work. I also have a system I teach the people who work with me to do this on an ongoing basis, and it will be impactful to share this with Cynthia too!
Utilizing Technology: Technology can be our friend; especially when it is designed for the long-term. I partner with FOREVER as a platform of choice for safely saving, organizing, sharing, and preserving digital memories. It is unparalleled as a complete solution for memory keeping and has features not available in other platforms. Best of all, FOREVER is intentionally designed for the long-term future.
Cynthia’s start to her journey is a testament to what can be achieved with perseverance and a structured approach. I am so ridiculously excited to work with her.
If you're feeling overwhelmed too, take solace in knowing that every small step counts. If you would like help, reach out to me and I can get you started in building your very own robust family history archive too. I do this by leveraging my expertise in information science, knowledge management, and organization.
Come on over the club: I invite you to check us out at the Organize Your Digital Memories Club!
We can all accomplish the task of preserving the past for the future.
*Disclaimer: The FOREVER links in this post are affiliate links; if you like what you see and use my link for the initial, free registration so you can check out the platform, I will be your personal ambassador to help you.