It’s easy to get too involved and lose track of time when you’re doing genealogy. Once it really becomes a part of you, it’s not something you can walk away from easily, even if you intend to do just a little bit of research or look up just one fact on one ancestor on any given research day. You kind of get into a “zone” where time doesn’t exist. When that happens, you know you are aligned with something you are truly passionate about and meant to be doing. However, you will also find that you’ve sat in front of the computer for 15 hours, or stayed at the archives building from opening until closing, without realizing more than a few minutes have gone by. Unless you’re lucky enough to have a spouse (or family members or friends) who are just as excited about genealogy as you, this tendency of yours to get lost for entire days in the world of family history research can be quite irritating to them.
To avoid getting those you love mad at you, and to make sure you leave time in your life for other things besides genealogy (it’s hard, I know), here are five genealogy research time management tips to help you get control over your habit, so everyone is happy...