Self-isolating - opportunity to work on your family tree

Self-isolating - An opportunity to work on your family tree 

As people are instructed to stay safe by staying home during this pandemic, one question is on everyone’s minds: what do I do when I’m home? If you are someone who is interested in family history, you will never get bored—because now is the perfect opportunity to start working on your family tree! A family tree is a way to learn about those who came before you and to preserve their memory for the future. 

As the world changes day by day, it is more important than ever to preserve family history and take the time to appreciate the true nature of a family tree. The following guide will help you learn some great tips and tricks that will help you work on a family tree from home.

Working On Your Family Tree While in Lockdown: Tips and Tricks

If you plan on working on your family tree during your lockdown, consider the following tips and tricks that will help the process go more smoothly.

Create a goal for your lockdown family tree work

It’s important to stay focused, especially during this chaotic period when it is easy to get overwhelmed, distracted and otherwise find yourself being unproductive. When you work on your family tree during lockdown, it’s important to create a goal of series of goals. For example, “Find out when (2 family members) were born” or “Contact (family member) to find out if they know when (family member) died.” 

Explore family history that you’ve always been meaning to record

Now is the perfect time to start exploring a side of family history that you’ve always been meaning to research and record but simply haven’t had the time. Maybe you’ve been putting off researching a certain branch of the family, or you’ve had a few leads regarding older family history records but didn’t have the time to do the online research; whatever it is, there is no better time to start on an otherwise unexplored area of your family’s past. 

To learn how to record a virtual interview with an older family member click here.

Set aside time each day to work on your family tree

If you want to get the most work done on your family tree during this period of lockdown, then you should set aside time every day to work on your family tree. Remember to keep it reasonable—you probably won’t be able to stay productive for hours on end, but setting a goal of 1 hour a day to do family tree related work is more than reasonable. 

Connect with family on social media 

If you aren’t already connected with your family on social media sites like Facebook, now is the time to create an account. Not only will this help you stay in touch with family, but you will have access to family members who can help you with research questions, provide scanned photographs and other important information that you may need during your work on your family tree.

Family history and family trees are important, so don’t forget to spend some time during your self isolation working on your family tree. 

To discover what good things you have learned from your parents click here.

To discover whether we should record dark family histories click here.

To learn how to back up our old photographs click here.

To learn more about the Trafalgar Cemetery, Gibraltar, click here.