In my ongoing quest for improved organization, I’ve picked up a new system – it’s called the “Sunday Basket” and it is designed by Lisa Woodruff of Organize 365. The premise of the system is simple – get a basket and every time you remember you have something to do – you put it in the basket if it can wait to be addressed until the next upcoming Sunday. That way, you focus your immediate time on things that need to be done now. On Sundays, you go through the items in your Sunday basket and either do them, or plan your time accordingly the following week to take care of them. The Sunday Basket concept primarily focuses on all the stuff that is needed for your home but can be expanded to cover hobbies, work, or “passion projects” as Lisa refers to them. Genealogy is definitely my “passion project.” This is an over-simplified explanation of course and you can learn more on Lisa’s website.
The Sunday Basket system has been great for me since I’ve started using it! One category of my weekly “stuff” is related to items that need to be taken care of on the computer. So, each week, I’ve been taking a handful of my genealogy materials that I need to scan, putting it in my Sunday basket, and then working on it. This process helps me ensure I make at least some progress each week.
This week so far, I’ve scanned in a few letters Kalonji wrote to me back in 2001 when we were “courting”, a high school graduation announcement of my cousin’s, a recommendation letter Kalonji received several years ago, and a few other family items. After scanning them, organizing them, adding metadata to the digital files, and uploading to my permanent online Forever account for long-term access for my family, I then filed them away in my physical “family archive” box.
I do not keep all of my genealogy material in paper form – just the things that are not easily obtainable online. And, my family knows that this box is a keeper should anything happen to me.
Here’s to continued progress in my scanning each week as part of my Sunday Basket approach! If you decide to try the Sunday Basket – I’d love to know it!
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I really love this idea, Taneya!
Thanks Miriam! I am loving the system. Keeps me in a mode where I make incremental progress each week!
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I’m in the second year of using Lisa’s Sunday Basket System, it’s been a real game changer for me. With some time reclaimed, I am hoping to work on family photos and genealogy. I’ve been wanting to create a family calendar with photos for gifts and just came across your blog entry on that! I’m so interested, your Mixbook with family dates is beautifully done!
Thanks for the kind words! The Sunday Basket system is just great. I love it too! I’m glad that you are finding reclaimed time 😁. Enjoy getting into genealogy! I’m always happy to talk if you have any questions.