Late May 2024, the ForeverⓇ professional genealogist and I reached a paper trail dead end.  There was nothing more we could find related to my ancestor Henry’s origins from Eastern Europe.  

The good news was that I did answer the decades-long question of who Henry’s parents were.  I should have been satisfied with that.  

Having spent about a year on this project, I got used to an established schedule for genealogy research.  Now that the project literally came to a halt, I had no idea what to do next.  I felt lost.  

I also felt sad.  I didn’t want the “doing the genealogy” research ride to end [sigh].  Whether I liked it or not, a genealogy time-out became necessary to get my thoughts in order.

Breaks like walks with my dog forced me to stay away from my genealogy workspace.  I had to get outdoors to hit the refresh button in my mind and think about something else for a while.  

After my dog was satisfied checking out every nook and cranny and anointing the weeds and anything else he deemed worthy of marking, I was ready to figure out “what next” or regroup.  

I straightened up my desk first.  The clutter from the intense research would not do for proper brainstorming.  A clear mind requires a clear desk.  

I discovered that this simple first step didn’t take long.  It actually pointed me in the direction of the next genealogy destination.  

The result was containers like paper trays or baskets lined up in a row on a nearby table.  Each container represented a project.  As I organized the desk, items relevant to a project were placed in its proper container.  

This did take some time.  But, actually it saved time as well.  I was able to visualize 3 projects based on the research I did clearly.  It didn’t take too long after that to get some serious planning done.

I realized that when the paper trail runs out and you can’t go any further with a genealogy research project, it doesn’t hurt to take a time-out.  It is time well spent even though at the moment it feels like you’re wasting time.  The reality is that stepping away and returning refreshed enables you to move on to your next genealogy project quicker.