Hello challengers!  I hope you all have been working hard at de-cluttering your genealogy (or atleast attempting to de-clutter your genealogy – during this time of year everyone gets an A+ for effort!)

So, for part 4 of our challenge I have a task that can seem very daunting…making sure that all of your documents in your paper files match everything in your computer program.  How daunting this task seems will vary, based on how big your family tree is.
I have a very easy way to go through and make sure everything matches or doesn’t match.  This will take a little bit of time, but I’ve cut that time down a bit with this system that I have come up with:
First, grab a notebook (or a bunch of pieces of lined paper), and a pen.  Next, take one surname folder out of your paper files.  Open up your computer genealogy program and go to the first person/couple/family (depends on what file system you use) that is in your surname file.  Finally, go through each piece of paper and compare it to what is in your computer program.  Anything that is in the file system but not in the computer program, or vice versa, write it down.  Make sure that you include the name of the person and the document that needs to be entered.
And once you’ve done one folder, move on to the next one.  The wonderful thing about doing this is that you can do it at all hours of the day or night (which is what I am currently doing).  Trust me – when you are done with this, you’ll feel AMAZING.  Everything will match up.  No more thinking that you’ve entered that record, knowing in the back of your mind that you’ve seen that somewhere.  You’ll now have it all at your fingertips, ready for research!

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Posted in De-Cluttering Your Genealogy Lessons, Organization Tips/Tricks/Hints