Research Journals & Planning

I remember when I was a kid in school all the girls were writing in diaries.  It was the thing to do.  Write in your diary lock it, hide the key and hope that your brother didn't find it. 

Somehow the diary thing never caught on with me.  I've never been a diary type person.  Mr. Brown eyes & the kids have bought me a few journals over the years, I'd keep them for a few days or a week then didn't write in them anymore.  I had too many other things to do to try and keep up with a diary or journal. 

Maybe that explained the surprised look on his face when I said I was going to do a blog.  Been over two years now and I'm still blogging, so I guess that's a good thing.  He sort of got that same look on his face when I told him I had bought a research journal.  Actually the official title is called My Family Tree Research Planner.  I've never been one to plan or log my research, as I do most of it "by the seat of my pants" as my grandpa used to call it.

Its a pretty handy little book.  I'm including a few images below just to give you some idea of what I am talking about.

Photo above simple cover shot...

This image shows a monthly page.

This page shows reminders for backing up files, research tips and more. To the right you can just see a corner of the daily page - which is shown below. There is room for daily notes, a bit small but I'll manage and space for progress notes on projects and a note space for reminders etc.

I decided instead of waiting until January to make a great start, to go ahead and make my start now. There's enough adjustments to make in the new year, so I've decided to get a head start on one of my "resolutions" now. We'll see how it works. You'll make sure I keep on track right?
Do you keep a research journal or notebook? How has that worked out for you? I'd love to hear your thoughts on research journals.
For those of you who are interested I got my journal at the Family Tree Shop.
Happy Resarching
Karen