Genealogy research can be wonderfully absorbing. Hours disappear as you follow fascinating family stories and uncover new sources. But effective family history research requires more than just discovery time. You need systems for documentation, organisation, and analysis.
The challenge? Balancing the exciting detective work with the essential but less glamorous tasks. Poor time management can leave you drowning in scrappy notes, struggling to find files, or repeating research you’ve already done.
Good genealogists develop efficient workflows. They create systems that support their research rather than slow it down.
Here are ten proven strategies to streamline your genealogy research and maximise your productive research time.
This post was originally published in October 2023 and last updated on 8 August 2025.
Take Good Research Notes
Don’t waste time creating notes that will not get used or worse, notes that are so bad you have to repeat the research! Make sure that you record the information that you might need, in a format that you will be able to understand. Be careful using abbreviations, as you might forget what they meant or misinterpret them when you go back to your notes at some point in the future. It’s a good idea to always include a source citation on your notes.
Find out more:
You need a system for taking and storing your research notes. Page 149 of my book, The Good Genealogist and my article, How to Take Effective Family History Research Notes provide suggestions.
Make Copies of Genealogy Sources
Even if you take really good notes, it is a good idea to make a copy of sources, in full or as extracts. Save them with your other family history documentation and, if possible, and link them to the relevant people in your family history software. These copies will then be available when you need to take another look and you will not have to waste time going back to the repository.
Find out more:
The FamilySearch Wiki has a useful article on this topic – Copying Sources
Be Meticulous with Data Entry
Take time to enter data into your family tree or family history software accurately, clearly, comprehensively and completely. Do not tell yourself you will fix it later as you probably won’t. Reducing errors at this point will make your family history more accurate and save you researching the wrong family or the wrong locations.
Find out more:
Create an Accurate Family Tree by Fixing Errors
Learn a Fast Method for Citing Genealogy Sources
Citing sources is essential to good research, but it can slow you down if you do not know how to do it well.
Find out more:
You’ll find a lot of good tips for citing sources in my article, Citing Family History Sources.
Family history software has tools and templates to help you, or you might like to use a citation generator, such as Cite Builder.
I also have a citation model in my book, The Good Genealogist.
Use Other People’s Research Wisely
You can save time by getting clues from other people’s family trees. Look for good quality research and use it to build hypotheses to test. Don’t just accept their conclusions as fact.
Find out more:
How to Use Other People’s Family History Research
Implement an Effective Filing System
Organise your files and documents so that you can easily find them again. Find a system that works for you and keep it maintained.
Find out more:
This important skill is covered in Chapter 6 of my book, The Good Genealogist.
Use Master Lists and Charts
Create master lists and family tree charts to summarise key information and help you keep track of your research.
My favourites are:
- A surname tree or table.
- A list of key research questions for each family group, with an option to include next tasks if you do not keep separate research plans.
- A list of birth death and marriage certificates that I have either purchased or need to purchase
- A list of places that my families came from or lived in.
Find out more:
Create a Surname Tree to Organise Your Family History
Managing Your Research Questions
Use Excel to Track Birth, Death and Marriage Records
How to Create a Genealogy Research Plan in Excel
You can turn your list of places into a family tree chart. Check out my article, Ten More Uses for Family Tree Charts, for instructions.
Research by Theme or Location
A lot of the time you will be focusing on one family group or family line at a time, but there are also benefits to creating research groups of people who have something in common because they may appear in the same sources or the same source types. For example, you might focus on researching all of your convicts, or all of the people buried in the same cemetery.
Find out more:
Use tags in online trees or family history software to identify groups and create lists. My article, Ancestry Tags Notes and Comments, provides suggestions.
Develop Your Skills and Knowledge
Improving your ability to find the best sources and analyse them will save you heaps of time.
Find out more:
I run genealogy research methods courses with the Society of Australian Genealogists. They are online and relevant to any location.
Many national genealogy societies host online lectures and courses, such as the Society of Australian Genealogists, New Zealand Society of Genealogists, Society of Genealogists UK.
Legacy Family Tree Webinars offers a large range of online genealogy sessions, many of which are free.
More courses and lecture options are listed on Cyndi’s List.
Join a Group
Working collaboratively or seeking assistance from other genealogists can help you find better information and develop your skills. There are a lot of genealogy Facebook groups, but also many others options to explore.
Find out more:
My article, Five Reasons to Use Wikitree, looks at the benefits of collaborative genealogy at Wikitree. Consider joining some of the challenges or a group project.
Many genealogy societies run special interest groups. For example, I convene the Legacy Family History Software Users Group for the Society of Australian Genealogists. Take a look at what your local or national society has to offer.
My article, 12 Ways to Collaborate in Family History provides many more examples.
Start Saving Time Today
Good genealogy is all about working smarter. These ten strategies will help make your research more focused and productive.
Pick one tip that addresses your biggest time-waster right now. Maybe it’s finally creating that filing system or learning to create proper citations. Implement it this week.
About the Author
Danielle Lautrec is a genealogy educator, researcher, and author of The Good Genealogist. With qualifications in history, family history, and historical archaeology, she teaches for the Society of Australian Genealogists.