Skip to main content

5 Tips to Break Down Your Brick Wall



Originally posted at Lost Tree Project as a guest post February 2019.

 Eventually we all hit a brick wall.  My first brick wall was with Joseph Thomas {my husband's 3rd great grandfather} I spent months searching.  Brick walls can last weeks to months to years.  Below are some quick tips to help you break through that brick wall.

  1. Research another ancestor for a while and then go back to your brick wall .  You will see your brick wall ancestor with new eyes.
  2. Use a checklist to see if you missed any records.  {You can find my Evernote Research Checklist in my shared genealogy notebook.}
  3. Revisit your research.  Maybe you missed a piece of information in a document.  Maybe something seemed like it wasn't important but now that you have more information you find it is important.
  4. Learn something new.  It does not need to be genealogy related.  When you shift your thinking to something else and then go back to the brick wall you are likely to see your research problem in a different light.
  5. Take a break from your genealogy.  Read a book, watch your favorite TV show, binge on Netflix; do anything to shift your mind off of your genealogy brick wall.

Doing one or all of the 5 things above will help clear your head and allow you to see your genealogy research problems with a clearer head.

How do you break down your brick walls?

By Shannon Thomas
Labels:

Comments

  1. The Bigham FamilyFebruary 4, 2020 at 2:55 PM

    Thank you for this. Great ideas, that I can use to help with my brick walls.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shannon ThomasFebruary 6, 2020 at 11:23 PM

      Thank you so much for stopping by! Let me know if you break down any brick walls!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Great Genealogy Shape Up of 2018!

By Shannon Thomas
For most of 2017, I spent my genealogy time cleaning up my database in Legacy Family Tree.  I'm still working on cleaning up messes from when I first started my family tree.  For 2018, I plan to continue cleaning up my database.  I would also like to finish adding all Find A Grave information to my database as well.   Find A Grave is a great place to find leads to research.  Legacy makes it very easy to find everyone in your database who do not have Find A Grave memorials.   Click the drop-down arrow on the Find A Grave icon and it gives you the following options: I selected create a list of people without a Find A Grave Memorial and I got a nice LONG list of people.  From this list, I have been able to find more ancestors to research and add to my database. My other goal for 2018 is to find the people in my database who do not have a source {yes, I said without a source.  Gasp!} Leg...
Post a Comment
Read more

Evernote Genealogy Shared Notebook | An Update

By Shannon Thomas
I have been working on updating the Evernote Genealogy Notebook with some new templates and new screen shots.  If you have not joined the Genealogy Notebook you can find the instructions here .  I have also reorganized the notebook so it is easier to find things.  All notes are now linked through the index and the note titles and numbered to correspond with the index. Updated Index Note
Post a Comment
Read more
By Shannon Thomas
I've been scrapbooking like crazy for the last few days.  I sold most of my paper scrapping stuff and have been digital scrapbooking.  I enjoy digital scrapbooking so much more!  (It's also less messy!) I started by joining the  Daily Digi  a few months ago.  For a while I was just collecting digi files but then I figured what the heck and dove right in. Crazy Snow Dog Winter Wishes -- The Lily Pad Collab.
Post a Comment
Read more