Feeling a bit overwhelmed lately?

Do you ever look at your family tree and feel a bit overwhelmed? I know I certainly do. Especially if I have been working on it for several days in a row. Pretty soon it all just seems like way too much information for me to process. I sometimes look at it and I see areas that need fixing and then the more I dig the more I find and pretty soon I am just left feeling the need to slow down and regroup. I think it happens to us all.

If you are like me and you love Genealogy then you spend quite a chunk of time working on it. It has seemed like lately the more I do the more I find that I need to do. I thought  I would share some tips here that might help others if they are struggling like me at times. I find that if I just take a break. Even if it is only for a couple days and focus on something different, then when I come back to my work I feel more refreshed and it does not seem so overwhelming.

I wonder sometimes if my Tree will ever be complete and then I think to myself, what do you mean complete? A family history is never complete, it goes on and on. For years I have collected information on my direct lines and not really bothered to branch out too much to the collateral lines. After having had my DNA tested, I need my paperwork now more than ever. And I am also finding that what I thought was a good well developed tree lacks quite a lot when comparing it to my matches as they seem to come from my collateral lines.

The About dot com website has a good article that talks about how to "Think like a Detective"  and develop a good research plan. They have even went so far as to provide a Sample Research Plan.  The Family Search Wiki has some good quality Research Forms available for download as well.