For those of you who are participating in this month’s 30 x 30 challenge (in which we endeavor to do 30 minutes of genealogy research every day for 30 days), how’s it going? It’s almost halfway through the month. Have you found that the challenge is prompting to you to get more research (or organizing) done than you might have otherwise?
I’ve had a great couple of weeks. I’ve researched every day. A couple of those sessions were shorter than 30 minutes. One was about five minutes, just so I wouldn’t break the chain of daily research. This month I’ve been keeping a spreadsheet of my efforts at reducing my backlog and I included a column on how much time I spent. So I can tell you that in 13 days , I have spent 6 hours and 45 minutes researching. (I think it’s very cool that Numbers allows me to enter minutes then totals it up for me in hours.) That’s an average of 31 minutes a day. Woot!
I have been focusing on eliminating my backlog of unprocessed documents, though it’s going more slowly than I might have hoped. I have so far reduced the backlog by 24 documents. I’m finding that the processing is revealing questions and mysteries that are diverting me a little. But I have added only three new documents in the last two weeks! In any case, this slow and steady approach has been enjoyable. And the short, daily sessions is keeping me in touch with my research, which is always a great benefit.
I am confident that I would not have prioritized research if it weren’t for the challenge. I am so grateful to all of you for providing me with accountability.
Your turn: If you’re among the 30 or so folks who signed on to the challenge (or even you didn’t sign on but are participating), please let the rest of us know how it’s going!
I haven’t hit every day, but I do have a daily reminder that pops up in Outlook, which has prompted me to do more research than I would have done otherwise! And, I have averaged at least 30 minutes/day. I do enjoy the challenge!
Excellent, Russ! I enjoy a challenge. It’s so motivating!
Thinks are going great. I have been spending at least 30 minutes pervday, primarily working on getting my sources organized (I highly recommend Evidentia, btw). Focusing on my sources has also forced me to reconsider some of them, and I am finding some details I overlooked when I first discovered them.
Congrats, Bonnie! I absolutely agree about the value of re-evaluating sources. That’s a project I should start again, once my backlog is taken care of. I’ll check out Evidentia. Thanks for the recommendation!
Thank you for the mid-month check-in. I started the month with good intentions. (I’m re-organizing documents from binders into folders in archival boxes.) But I’ve been getting distracted in recent days. I have averaged over 30 minutes a day, but need to keep up the momentum.
Good for you to keep up with your momentum!
Now’s a great time to get your momentum back! Your task is easy to get distracted from, but also great for a half hour at a time. Hope the rest of the month is great!
I just started yesterday…does that count? I prepped Family Group Sheets to take with me to visit my uncle and my cousin so that I can add to their stories. Once I get home and input the info, then I will contact another cousin, and then another. This way, I can work my way down through the current family, leaving breadcrumbs for OUR descendants if they want to continue doing our family’s genealogy.
That sounds like a great plan, Christy! One cousin at a time.
I have done pretty well. Although I have missed a couple of days, when I do work it is usually for several hours! Making a little headway through my many Rubbermaid’s of collected backlog. Through COVID I have been able to get rid of two boxes of paper! Progress
Getting rid of two boxes of paper is impressive, Roberta! Sounds like you’ve done great during this challenge!
So far so good! I’m about half way through writing my research report which was my goal for this challenge. Thanks for the challenge and the reminder.
Halfway through the month and halfway through your goal. That’s fantastic!
Well, I was sailing along nicely until Isaias paid a visit and dumped 7 inches of water in just a few hours. We had flooding in our basement. Thankfully no genealogical records are kept there. The clean up has set me back but I hope to start again on Sunday. 🙂
Oh my gosh, I’m sorry to hear about your flooding but glad no genealogical records were damaged. Please take care of yourself!
So far so good for me. I am on target to exceed my goal for organising the information I already have. I feel that I will be in a really good place to get back into the research in September.
I have managed at least 30 minutes a day which I have been really pleased about.
That’s fantastic, Missy! Great job!
Thanks, and thank you for this great idea. I find it keeps me so much more focussed on what I am doing and what I want to achieve.
I’m so glad!
I’ve been finishing documentation to accompany my application for Missouri’s First Families certification. Missouri has 3 levels for which you can qualify: Territorial, Pioneer, and Civil War residency. It’s not necessary to follow paternal lines directly; if there’s a marital cross-over, you still qualify [at least in MO]. Nearly every state has some form of this – all you need is enough paperwork to claim that your ancestors were some of the first settlers in your particular state. It’s really quite easy and will give you so many light-bulbs to follow, not to mention a sense of pride for having descended from a true pioneer. I highly recommend it!
Thanks for sharing that information, Chris. Congratulations on your progress!
I’m on track in terms of time spent – actually way over 30 minutes a day – but got sidetracked by clues that are helping me break through 2 long standing brick walls in my Loyalist family of Robert and Catherine Carlisle, so I am very pleased with myself. 🙂
Yowsa! You broke through two brick walls? Congrats!! That sounds like time well spent!
Thanks for the mid-month checkin. I’ve spent this challenge researching elements of writing an ancestor story. This week I received emails clarifying dialogue. I’ll set my larger project aside until October. I‘m moving an education profile to the front burner with a completion goal of 30 September.
Cheri, you sound extremely focused, which is fantastic. Hope the rest of the month continues to go well!
My goal this month is to take one family (this includes the children), gather all the research material I have for them so far, enter it into my database with transcription notes, create citations, organize the digital files, create a file for any paper items and write a brief story to put on my blog. This has allowed me to see what I am missing, research for it or create a plan of action for later. Having a system has really made me feel so much more in control of my “mess” and not keep going down the rabbit hole for other things that do not pertain to this one family. I have even created a scrapbook page for the ones that I posted to the blog so far. Feeling great! Thanks for the check in. Glad you are having success too!
Bobbi, that’s great. I think focusing on one family (or line or whatever feels right) can be so beneficial. This sounds like a terrific month for you!
Appreciate the reminder. I have accomplished very little–but it’s the first of Sept.–so will plan to restart the 30X30. Checked out your organization blog–great information.