What to Do While You Wait for DNA Matches to Respond

Are you trying to make progress using your DNA results but aren't sure what to do? This post is for you.

You can try these tips and suggestions to get more from your DNA results. I started this list as part of my post about contacting AncestryDNA matches. These were suggestions of what to do while you wait for a response. You can try these anytime, though.

Sometimes you aren't waiting on a response from a DNA match, sometimes you're waiting for the right DNA match or maybe you just don't have time (or the know-how) to do something more involved. These are simple but productive suggestions.

Quick and Easy DNA Tasks for Genealogists

Is AncestryDNA different? Why are DNA results different from one company versus another? Why are ethnicity results different at every company?

I'm not going to address why results (ethnicity or genealogical) are different in this post. I will say they are different and that doesn't make them wrong. If that's what you're looking for, read this post about why your DNA results are not wrong (even if they are different at different companies).

I am going to talk about why using your DNA results (not ethnicity results) is different at AncestryDNA. This is a topic I've gone on tangents on in other posts so I've realized I just need to write a post I can refer to when appropriate.

Why is AncestryDNA Different?

Contacting DNA matches can seem intimidating.

It might be because you have so many, or maybe you just don't like contacting people out of the blue. It doesn't matter why, having a plan (and preferably a template) makes it much easier.

In this post, I'm going to help you craft an email template specifically to use at AncestryDNA.

Contacting AncestryDNA Matches: Do It Right

Have you heard of auto-clustering for your autosomal DNA results? It's something you should try but is it going to help you or be another tool that drives you crazy? Turns out, it might depend who your ancestors were.

If you've read many posts on this blog, you know my ancestors are all southern. They aren't just southern, they're all from North Georgia. This is a nightmare when it comes to using DNA (although those of you with some of the most extreme endogamous populations, you have my sympathy, I know it could be worse).

Auto-clustering, Genetic Networks, and Kissing Cousins

Evernote for Occasional Genealogists

Have you realized what the biggest challenge for Occasional Genealogists is?

It's not a lack of research results. It's remembering what research you've done.

The solution to this problem is great organization.

That's not a very helpful answer, though.

Great genealogical organization involves several aspects.
These aspects include:

• great note taking, 
• a great filing/retrieval system, and 
• great skills overall---like report/memo writing and analysis.

Genealogy Organization, Simplified

Occasional Genealogists need to write everything down, AND they need to be able to find it again.

Every genealogist can benefit from this, but if you get to research pretty often, you can rely on your memory (you shouldn't, but you can).

If you're familiar with Evernote, you probably know where I'm going with this.

Occasional Genealogists can't remember everything---Evernote's tagline is "Remember Everything." [note: that was the tagline this post was written] Evernote was designed to solve this Occasional Genealogist problem.