I’m halfway through the 30 days of my 30 x 30 challenge. Back in August when I last did this, I was able to post about my wonderful progress and how I hadn’t missed a day.
Alas, that’s not the case this time. I underestimated the impact of our puppy, Bix, on my productivity and available time. As I mentioned a month ago, Bix joined our family on December 13 as an eight-week-old puppy. He’s now 13 weeks old and growing up to be a very well behaved puppy. But during those five weeks he required a whole lot of attention to keep him out of trouble. Couple that with January being my busiest month for my organizing business (which I should have taken into account) and I find I’m doing little but working with clients, watching and training Bix, and handling essential admin tasks for Peace of Mind Organizing.
In other words, I’ve barely done any genealogy research in the past two weeks. I’ve managed 30 minutes just a few days. If I didn’t have the challenge going, I’m confident I wouldn’t have done any!
But I’m not throwing in the towel. Instead I’m regrouping and thinking about the lessons of the month so far:
- My genealogy research isn’t going anywhere, but my puppy is growing up fast.
- Serving my organizing clients obviously has to be a priority.
- The fact that I’m not researching daily doesn’t devalue the research I’ve been able to do.
- Fear of failure shouldn’t stop me from starting challenges like these. It’s okay not to succeed.
- I’ll be starting up a new challenge as soon as the time is right. I love these challenges!
- Next time I do a 30 x 30 challenge I want to take a close look at the calendar and consider competing factors. This was an ill-timed challenge, despite it being the first of the year
- Some research is better than no research. I’ll keep doing what research I can.
I’m thrilled that some of you are taking part in the challenge and reporting on your successes on the blog. Please continue doing so!
I imagine it will be at least a couple of months before Bix is less labor-intensive. Until then, I’m going to cut myself a break!
Someone once told me our ancestors aren’t going anywhere. We have a life to live also & they’ll still be there waiting for us in the records. 🙂
Thanks so much for pointing that out, Julie. I think that’s a terrific perspective for me to keep in mind right now!
Since this 30×30 is an (often feeble) attempt to get me to stop searching for ancestors, they better stay put.
I laughed as I recognized that you held this challenge, and those of us who need professional organizers showed right up! But this is Organize Season and you’re like the Tax Preparers this time of year, aren’t you?
Bix’s influence will be seen several hundred years from now when descendants puzzle over the gap in the research log abt Jan 2016 and try to make guesses… “Was Janine Adams ill? I see no family births right then. Was it the Jonas storm.. no, the gap starts before that. What sort of things would disrupt a woman genealogist in the early 21st century? Should I see if I can find anything in the Blog Index?”
Your comment made me laugh out loud. Thank you!
Haha! I have missed a few days too. It’s inevitable when you have dependents! Bix, children, they always need something. That doesn’t minimize what we are able to get done, like you said.
Thank you, Nicole!