Back in August 2015, I created a 30 x 30 challenge, to challenge myself and my readers to doing at least 30 minutes of genealogy research for 30 days in a row. It was a great success for me personally.
I did another one in January 2016, but it was a failure. I blame the fact that I had a ten-week-old puppy, which is pretty much the biggest distraction I can imagine. I waited until November 2016 for the next and then did one this year in March. Those last two were great.
Here it is only two months since the end of my last challenge and I’m declaring another one. Here’s why:
- I find when I don’t have a challenge going, it’s easy for me to put genealogy research on the back burner. A 30 x 30 challenge keeps genealogy front of mind.
- Having accountability is really helpful. I’m the type of person who likes to live up to my public commitments.
- Having an ending point helps keep me going–I think I’d give up if I declared I was going to do 30 minutes of genealogy research a day for the rest of my life.
In March, I added the commitment to log my research to the challenge. I’ll do that in June as well. And I’m going to up the commitment by trying to end each session with next steps, so I never have to spend time wondering what to work on. Having next steps is a habit I’d like to create and there’s no better way to create a habit than by doing that thing daily until it becomes automatic.
I’ll post updates a few times throughout the month. I’m excited to get started!
Will you join me? There are no rules except that for the month of June you make some kind of commitment to do something related to genealogy. Who’s in?
I’m in! I am, as a professional genealogist, always working on other folk’s research and often neglecting my own. I have told a lot of people about your working on grandparents by quarter system, which you did a few years ago. I am going to do this challenge blending that in. I will work on one of my grandparents line in a 30 x 30 Thank you for all the inspiration!
Fantastic, Maria! Glad to have you join me on the challenge and I’m so glad you find it beneficial. Enjoy researching your own family for a change!
I’ll give it a try. 🙂
Yay! Let’s do this together!
The key point in the blog is “Having next steps is a habit”. I do my best work in the morning as soon as I get up. I must confess that having been on a trip, that my genealogy is at the bottom of the pile. But whatever it is, having the next step, even if it is what I’m going to do tomorrow morning, is beneficial. I know why I like like your blogs. They have key points in them all. Well done
Thanks so much for your nice comment, John. I’m so glad you find the blog valuable. Good luck getting your genealogy out from the bottom of the pile!
So glad I read your blog on the 1st of the month. This challenge is exactly what I need. I’m definitely not a morning person, but after reading John’s reply above, I’m going to make an effort to start my day an hour earlier and fit my genealogy research into that slot. I am relatively new to genealogy, so I like the idea of establishing habits. Keeping a log and making next steps, as well as setting a regular time to research, make three good habits to establish this month. Another incentive for me is that I started a Facebook page dedicated to my mother’s family and sent join invites to those relatives I know. I hope that keeps me accountable, also. Thanks, Janine – I love reading your blog.
Fantastic, Gayle!! John is absolutely right, Gayle. I’m so much more effective if I can do my genealogy first thing in the morning. (I blogged about that last year: https://organizeyourfamilyhistory.com/research-first-thing-morning/) So glad to have you join the challenge!
I’m in!! I so need this!! LoL
Great, Debbie! It felt so good to do my research first thing this morning!
I am also in! This will give me FOCUS instead of hopping all over the place which I tend to do! I have a hard time staying focused on just one line. I guess I get bored easily! HAHA! So I am going to try to work on one line and stick with it for the month!
So glad you’re in, Sara! I love focusing on one line–I hope you find it helpful to do that for a month. I’m doing it for a year currently and it’s been great.