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Course: 2026-08

The Intentional Genealogist: From Chaos to Clarity

Virtual via Zoom

Faculty:

  • Coordinator and Instructor: Kelli Jo Bergheimer, MSM
  • Other Instructors: Katharine Crichton; Drew Smith, MLS

Tuition:

  • Regular Price: $615.00
  • NGS Member Price: $575.00

Description:

One of the most overwhelming tasks in the pursuit of genealogy is to get organized and stay organized. This course will take attendees through organization methods for their own personal knowledge management, tasks, and developing systems for ascendancy and descendancy research, research trips, and time management.

Objectives:

  • Learn how to organize and manage their own personal knowledge collection.
  • Organize projects, goals, and tasks, building the structure—ascendancy planning for brick walls, and descendancy planning for DNA projects.
  • Identify gaps in knowledge and develop an education plan.
  • Plan an efficient and successful research trip.
  • Focus on efficiency and time management to make progress in your research.
  • Use bullet journaling to focus on creativity and analytical thinking and seeing connections.

Student Prerequisites:

All levels of genealogical experience are welcome. Familiarity and basic skills with word processing, Excel, or other spreadsheet software, and how to edit, save, and create these file types.

Students need:

  • a laptop or desktop computer (not a tablet) for hands-on sessions and in-class writing assignments
  • an understanding of their own desktop/laptop functionality, operations, file management, troubleshooting skills for their own device, and knowledge of how to join a wi-fi network
  • OneNote; Google Drive or OneDrive; a digital calendar or print calendar; and a notebook or journal

Students would benefit from having Family Tree Maker software (or another family tree software), but it’s not necessary.

Recommendations:

Suggested reading materials include:

Recordings:

Sessions will be recorded and available through Friday, 10 July 2026, at 11:59 PM ET.

NOTE: All times are listed in Eastern Time.
Live Sessions may be subject to schedule adjustments by your course coordinator.

Day Session Time Session Title Description Instructor
Monday
22 June		 Intro 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM Class Introductions Bergheimer
1 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM Second Brain in Theory Using the theory and practice of Tiago Forte’s Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential, this session will focus on strategies and business practice applicable to genealogy and personal knowledge management. Smith
2 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM Second Brain in Practice Learn how to apply the Second Brain methodology, organizing your education, research, and genealogical resources. Restructure inefficient systems into a streamlined, efficient, and easily navigated second brain. How can NotebookLM help synthesize information in your collection. Bergheimer
3 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM Identifying the Categories and Gap Analysis This working session will help identify the categories of knowledge, projects, and research in need of structure. What are the gaps? What are the solutions? Bergheimer
4 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM Work on Your Own Resources, Projects, and Research In this session, apply what you have learned to your own resources, projects, and research. Bergheimer
Tuesday
23 June		 5 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM Identifying the Categories This working session will help identify the categories of tasks and projects in need of structure and the tools to help—AI, digital, and paper. Smith
6 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM Work on Your Own Categories of Tasks and Project In this session, apply what you have learned about categories and tasks and projects in need of structure. Explore new tools. Bergheimer
7 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM From Brick Walls to Insights, Part I: Structuring Ancestor Research In this session, we’ll focus on ascendancy planning—a structured approach to tracking your ancestors and uncovering gaps that may lead to brick walls. You’ll learn how to organize your ancestor research more efficiently, see examples of how systematic tracking highlights problem areas, and practice using simple tools to build your own framework. By the end, you’ll have a clear process you can apply to your own family tree research. Crichton
8 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM From Brick Walls to DNA Insights, Part II: Structuring DNA Research with Descendants Building on the foundation from Part 1, this session turns to descendancy planning as a way to strengthen your DNA research. We’ll explore how mapping the descendants of your ancestors can reveal gaps and highlight where DNA testers are missing. You’ll see practical examples of how DNA matches fit into a descendant framework and learn a straightforward method for keeping track of shared match information. You’ll leave with a clear understanding of how to connect DNA evidence to your family tree in an organized, purposeful way. Crichton
Wednesday
24 June		 9 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM Projects and Goals, Gap Analysis of Your Knowledge With so many conferences, events, and webinars, how can you organize your genealogical education? Use the power of Google Drive to develop a genealogical education folder. Make a yearly focused plan for your educational goals. To keep you on track, build a document with conference and webinar links to make the most of those conference dollars. Bergheimer
10 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM Research Trip Planning Preparing for a research trip requires organization and planning. Learn tips to make the most of your time searching online and using physical repositories. Learn some techniques for building a successful research plan and documenting your findings. Organize into a successful and methodical search. Smith
11 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM Your Genealogy Command Center: Using Calendars and Trackers Effectively A well-structured calendar isn’t just for deadlines. It’s a foundation for making steady progress in your genealogy research. In this session, you’ll learn how to use tools like Google Calendar, digital notebooks, and news alerts to organize both coursework and everyday research. We’ll explore practical ways to keep track of events, registrations, webinar links, and ongoing projects. With a clear calendaring system in place, you’ll move beyond hunt-and-peck research and start building momentum toward real breakthroughs. Crichton
12 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM Chunk It Out: Turning Genealogy Goals into Steady Progress Big research questions can feel overwhelming if you don’t have a plan. That’s where chunking comes in. This session will show you how to break down large genealogy tasks—whether it’s preparing for an institute course, tackling a brick wall, or working through DNA matches—into manageable steps. We’ll talk about how to pace your work across days and weeks so that you stay focused without burning out. By the end, you’ll have a framework for moving from scattered searching to purposeful, structured progress. Crichton
Thursday
25 June		 13 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM Bullet Journaling in Theory Whether you work on paper or digitally, building a master tracker by topic or project can not only keep you on task but focus your analytical problem-solving. By learning Ryder Carroll’s The Bullet Journal Method: Track Your Past, Order Your Present, Plan Your Future, learn the how-tos and whys of bullet journaling to find connections and release your creativity. Bergheimer
14 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM Bullet Journaling in Practice and Building the Structure This working session will help identify the categories of topics and projects in need of structure and look at alternative ways to build your bullet journal system. Bergheimer
15 2:15 PM – 3:30 PM Work on Your Own Bullet Journal Buildout In this session, apply what you have learned about bullet journaling. Bergheimer
16 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM Turn Planning to Action Using your second brain system, calendar, and bullet journal, this session focuses on the time management challenges and ongoing maintenance to be successful. Bergheimer
Friday
26 June		 17 10:30 AM – 11:45 AM Progress, Challenges, and Next Steps Share with your classmates how you have made progress this week, your next-step genealogy plans, and your challenges. Bergheimer
18 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM Circling Back Without Drowning in the System What are the next steps you need to be successful? We will work through solutions to common challenges and put into perspective system versus sustainable progress. Bergheimer

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