Are You Reading My Mail?

I think Wendy at All My Branches Genealogy must be reading my mail or my mind.  Her recent post on Genealogy Attention Deficit Disorder had me rolling with laughter until it dawned on me that she was describing my genealogical condition.


Many times I've started out working on Ancestry or some other database such as FindAGrave to begin filling in the gaps in my genealogy database.  Maybe it's making sure I have a burial place listed for all direct ancestors, or maybe it's making sure I've documented where everyone was in the 1930 census, etc.  No matter what my goal, it doesn't take too long for Genealogy Attention Deficit Disorder (GADD) to take over and soon I find myself tracking down vital information far from my original goal.


Why is it so hard to remain on task?  Perhaps it is due to the benefits of today's technology that allows us to have so many records to search from the comforts of home.  I can so relate to Wendy's experiences in getting so caught up in tracking down the tidbits of information that you lose sense of time.  When I'm "in the zone" I've been known to forget to eat!


But it's not just the online databases causing this disorder.  My piles of photocopied records from a research trip last November stand waiting, unentered and undocumented.  My inbox is full of research from other researchers that would make interesting blog posts.  I have notebooks created specifically for researching certain locales that I've yet to complete, and several unfinished posts to be written for this blog.  My research goals for 2011 are woefully incomplete.  All due to Genealogy Attention Deficit Disorder.