Bullet Journaling

Bullet Journals

Thanks to Dear Myrtle’s excellent Wacky Wednesday-Bullet Journaling hangout with Tami Mize I’m jumping in. The older I get, the more I find myself forgetting the little things or even worse, duplicating my research. Not good.

I decided to incorporate my research into the journal. So much more fun than tracking if I exercised on a given day.

I’m hot on the trail of my maternal great-grandmother’s family in Sweden, thanks to DNA. The only problem is I don’t know where she was born. So now it becomes tedious.

Arkivdigital is my main source for Swedish church books. There is a fee but it’s pretty reasonable for a short amount of time. I only subscribe for a week at a time; around $15 depending on the exchange rate.  After a week of trying to read Swedish, I’m ready for something a little easier. You can also access their site from many Family History Centers. 

Since I confuse easily. I get lost in in a sea of patronymics and forget where I am from day to day. Enter my brand spankin’ new bullet journal.

Isn't she pretty?

I set up a worksheet to track each family group on the DNA matches tree. Small bites, right? And I build the tree out to around 6 generations, easy to do with the household books.

You may want to print out a few reports to help you keep on track. 

I created a full fan chart of my match’s tree using Legacy Family Tree. 

Then I printed out each quarter of the tree and added it to my notebook. 

Looking at a tree section helps me remember where I am in the elimination process. Since I’m looking for my maternal great grandmother I check to see if I have an X match. If so, I would have just done an X chart. So much easier when you can eliminate half of the prospects.

Print out a descendant report for each family in the outer ring . Cross off each family group as they are eliminated.

I track the research using my 4 Ws form. I set this up in Word and sized it to print half size and duplex. Then I just cut in half and insert in the journal.

Who is each child. 

Who's Who is a list of Who's children. If the children have children, start another Who sheet.

When & Where is my mini research log. I list the titles of the Swedish church books I’ve used. 

What’s Next has conclusions, dead ends, and next steps.

Since I know my grandmother’s approximate date of birth, immigration, marriage, and possibly her parents' names I can eliminate lines that don't fit the profile. I cross people off the descendant report 6 generation pedigree chart I created and move on to the next group.

Wish me luck, fingers crossed. I hope this will help me find Grandma. I’d really hate to have to start tracking fitness days.