Organize Your Family History

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December 30 x 30 challenge: How did it go?

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Happy new year! I just love turning a calendar page to a new year. It feels particularly good to say goodbye to 2020 and all its trials and tribulations. But before we do, let’s talk about the December 2020 30 x 30 challenge. How did it go for you?

December is a tough month for a challenge, I know, because there are often so many holiday- and end-of-the-year-related activities. So bravo to those of you who were up for a challenge. I did pretty well the first half of the month, but slipped a little the second half. Here’s my excuse: After 21 years with our old bed, my husband and I finally bought a new one. We went from a queen- to a king-sized bed. What does this have to do with anything? The need to wedge that large bed into our small bedroom produced a cascading array of tasks that kept me very busy! But it was worth it. The new, fancy Sleep Number bed is fantastic.

In any case, I think I researched only 23 of the 30 days. But I’m still glad for the challenge because I know I would not have been able to accomplish that much research without it.

It’s a new year, so I’ll be creating a fresh research log and working on my research goals for 2021. I’ll probably have another 30 x 30 challenge in February. (Though I guess it will be a 30 x 28 challenge.)

Please share: How was this month’s challenge for you? Did you find that December was a tough month to fit in research or was that not relevant? I’d love to hear from you!

P.S. Thanks very much to those of you who have already taken advantage of my End-of-the-Year Sale on Orderly Roots guides. If you haven’t bought the guides yet (but want to), you have until Sunday evening to get all three for the price of one!

Quick Tip #12: Don’t enter a fact without creating a source citation

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Here’s the next in my occasional series of bite-size Quick Tips. Click on the Quick Tips tag for my other Quick Tips. Because I tend to write longer posts, I wanted to provide a quick-to-read (and quick-to-write) post every couple of weeks on a small topic that pops into my head. I think this tip is an especially important one.

Don’t enter a fact without creating a source citation

When I first caught the genealogy bug at the turn of this century, I wrote down facts willy nilly without bothering to note where the fact came from. My “research” progressed quickly, but I ended up with an unreliable mess. I abandoned researching for a number of years and when I came back to in 2011 I vowed never to enter a fact into my database without creating a source citation and assigning that source to the fact.

That policy has served me well and is part of my digital workflow. Having a source for every single fact in my Reunion database means that when conflicting information come up, I can easily evaluate the sources and make a determination on what is more likely to be true. It gives me confidence in my research. And it makes my research more credible (and valuable) to others.

Photo by Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash

30 x 30 challenge: How’s it going?

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Here it is, December 15 already. We’re halfway through this 30 x 30 challenge. How’s it going?

I can tell you with certainty that if it weren’t for the challenge I’d be getting a lot less research done. I have researched every day except two (when I forgot or just plum ran out of time). It’s been a busier-than-expected month and I haven’t squeezed in 30 minutes every session. But I’m pleased with my consistency. And I’m hopeful I’ll have some time for a long session where I can make up the difference so that I’ll at least have averaged 30 minutes a day. I’m pleased to say that my backlog has grown only a tiny bit this month! I’ve been better about processing documents in the session I download them.

How about you? If you signed on to the challenge, has it been helpful? Are you getting in your 30 minutes in (and being kind to yourself if you’re not)?

I look forward to reading your comments!

Quick Tip #11: Process each document as you download it

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Here’s the next in my occasional series of bite-size Quick Tips. Click on the Quick Tips tag for my other Quick Tips. Because I tend to write longer posts, I wanted to provide a quick-to-read (and quick-to-write) post every couple of weeks on a small topic that pops into my head. When I don’t do what I suggest in this tip, I always regret it!

Process each document as you download it

I am always battling a backlog of documents I’ve downloaded that need to be processed. By “processed” I mean creating a source citation, going through the document and gleaning facts and adding them to my Reunion database, with each fact sharing a source citation. (I describe how I process a document in this post.)

I love processing documents, actually. But when I’m in a flurry of searching, I sometimes keep downloading without processing. (Though I always rename the document, as described in Quick Tip #1.) When I let that backlog build up, I end up trying to stop myself from doing additional research until I get rid of it. I often accomplish that during a 30 x 30 challenge.

But when I’m on my game, I process as I go and it feels great. (It makes me feel like a researcher, not just a searcher.) I encourage you to give it a try if you’re not already doing it!

Photo by Sam Dan Truong on Unsplash