Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

January 30 x 30 challenge wrap up – how did it go?

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We had a nice turnout for this month’s 30 x 30 challenge, based on the number people who commented that they were interested in joining. Now’s the time to report in: How did it go? Were you able to spend 30 minutes a day for 30 days on your genealogy? (Or did you meet a different goal that you set?)

I have to admit I didn’t make progress in digitizing my paper genealogy files. My extra time this month was focused on managing my iPhone’s photos, which is no small project. But my box of genealogy papers is really getting on my nerves and I hope to get to it soon.

Please let us know in the comments how your month was. I’d love to hear whether the challenge was helpful, even if you didn’t manage to get in 15 hours!

30 x 30 challenge: mid-month check-in

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It’s the 15th of the month! How’s your 30 x 30 challenge going? I was so pleased with the challenge’s participation this month and hope that it’s going well for you. Please let us know in the comments whether you’ve been able to get some time in and whether the challenge has been beneficial.

I haven’t actually been putting much time in on my genealogy organizing but I have been getting some small organizing tasks done around my apartment, which feels very good. (I blogged about them on my organizing blog…you can check those posts out here, if you’d like.)

I look forward to reading about your progress!

Time for a 30 x 30 challenge for the new year!

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It’s been a minute since I’ve hosted a 30 x 30 challenge, but the new year is always a great time (in my opinion) to challenge yourself with new habits and routines. So what do you say? Would you like to commit to doing 30 minutes of genealogy research (or genealogy organizing or really anything) for 30 days in a row? You’re welcome to modify the challenge so that it suits you.

I’ve been doing periodic 30 x 30 challenges for almost a decade now (here’s the first one) and I’ve found it to be really beneficial in putting my research top of mind. Back in 2017 I wrote this post about the value of daily research.

So if you’d like to take the challenge, let me know in the comments. I’ll do a mid-month check in and an end-of-the month wrap up post. I’m still working on digitizingmy paper genealogy files (I have less file space now that I’m an apartment dweller). I hope to make some real progress in January!

Getting rid of the stubborn pile on your desk

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Banishing the stubborn pileBack in 2015, I wrote this post about finally doing something about the genealogy-related pile on my desk. As I read it in December 2024, I thought it might be a helpful reminder that we can take action on the stacks of genealogy papers that tend to become of the landscape.

For the past few months, I’ve had this one pile on the corner of my desk that contains primarily genealogy items. When I’m hurriedly putting away the stuff cluttering my desktop, I just keep straightening that pile and leaving it there. It’s almost become a feature of the landscape of my desk. Somehow I’ve adjusted my thinking so that I have been considering my desktop clear even with that pile sitting there.

I think one of the reasons that I wasn’t dealing with it was a perception that it would take some time to really process the information in it. I was afraid that if I rushed it, I might lose valuable clues the pile might contain for my genealogy research. And I simply wasn’t taking the time to do it. (Work has been very busy lately.)

I know if I take some focused time and go through that pile, I will further my research and I won’t have an unsightly pile on my desk. But it hit me this morning that if I start but don’t finish, I’m still better off than not starting at all. So I took a photo of the pile, and wrote all the text above this line. Then I set my timer for 15 minutes and started going through the pile.

Here are some of the things I found in the pile:

  • Notes from my research trip to Kentucky and Alabama. I added tasks from those notes to my Genealogy To-Do List for the appropriate surname. Then I filed the notes in my paper files.
  • A packet of information I’d sent for from the the State of Alabama Archives pertaining to my great great grandfather, Laban Taylor Rasco. I put a sticky note saying “Analyze/process” on the packet and added that task to my Rasco To-Do List. Then I filed the packet in that couple’s file.
  • Notes from my notebook that I took on the research trip. One page had notes on Adamses on one side and notes on Rascoes on the other. I scanned the Rasco side, printed it and put in in my Rasco file for later reference. I filed the original sheet in the appropriate Adams file.
  • Notes written on several pages of two notepads I keep on my desk. I tore off the notes, logged any tasks on my To-Do list and filed or tossed the notes. Then I put the notepads where they belong.
  • A random list of how common my family surnames are. Some time ago, I found myself on a website (which I didn’t source) where you can enter a surname and see how common it is. I typed the data into Evernote so I can find it later if I ever remember it.
  • A small sticky note with a list of death certificates I’d found recently that needed to be added to my Reunion software. I checked each name to see which certificates had been entered already.  Two out of five still needed to be added and I noted that on my to-do list. I threw away the sticky note.
  • Some brainstorming notes about this blog. I filed them and made a note on my business task list to review them.

When the 15-minute timer went off I had just a few more pieces of paper to deal with. So I went ahead and finished, then did the filing.

Eliminating that pile took no more than thirty minutes. This is a pile I’d been looking at for several months. It had been mildly stressing me out, because I didn’t know its contents and it was in the way.

Now I feel in control of my research, I have clear next steps and I feel more eager to work on it. Plus I have a clear desk to enjoy. That’s the best 30 minutes I’ve spent in awhile!

What could 30 minutes of pile busting do for you?