Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Search Results for: 30 x 30 challenge

Heads up! A 30 x 30 challenge is coming!

By 2 Comments

March has been a terrible month for me in terms of prioritizing doing family history research. And that makes it a bad blogging month for me because, of course, my research feeds this blog.

I know that the 30 x 30 challenge (in which I challenge myself and my readers to do 30 minutes of genealogy research or organizing every day for 30 days) is hugely helpful for me in prioritizing research.

So on April 1, I’ll start a new challenge. You can be thinking about whether you’d like to join me. It’s going to be a little challenging for me because I’ll be going to an organizing conference in early April and an out-of-town wedding in mid-April. But getting my research groove back will be really important if I want to maximize the benefits of attending the National Genealogical Society conference May 8 to 11. And if I can do it this April, I can pretty much do it any month.

You don’t have to commit now but keep an eye out for a post on March 29 announcing the challenge!

How’d the January 30 x 30 challenge go?

By 15 Comments

Another 30 x 30 challenge has come and gone and I’m interested in hearing how things went for you. Folks are often in a great mindset in January to create new habits (I know I am), and I’m hoping that those who chose to participate in the January 30 x 30 challenge (30 minutes of genealogy research for 30 days in a row) found it beneficial!

So please, report in! I’ll start. Unlike last October’s challenge, this challenge for me was terrific. I was able to research each and every day and it was never a hardship. It helped that I had a lot of time at my desk this month (which I’m particularly grateful for because it’s been so cold out). And I think it also helped, for some reason, that I was also doing yoga daily. Something about combining those two daily habits was synergistic, I think. In any case, my research log is a thing of beauty because there’s an entry every day.

So what’s next? For me, I’m going to work on vanquishing the genealogy paper pile I discovered late in the month by spending 30 minutes a day with it until it’s gone. (That counts as research, in my book.) I’m not declaring a formal challenge but I’m hoping that I’ll work on it each and every day. Two months of daily research would really make me happy!

How about you? How’d your January 30 x 30 challenge go? Did you find it helpful?

January 30 x 30 challenge: how’s it going?

By 11 Comments

It’s January 15 already and it’s time to report in on our progress with the 30 x 30 challenge. Twenty people signed on for the challenge, which involves doing genealogy research (or organizing or whatever you choose to do) for 30 minutes a day every day for 30 days. I’d love to hear how it’s going! Have you been able to research every day? Have you missed some days but gone back to it? Have you given up? I’d love to know what you’ve accomplished and what benefits you’ve found to researching daily (or trying to research daily).

I’ll start! I have indeed managed to research every day. Over the weekend I even researched several hours each day (and blogged about how I lost my focus). It’s been so nice to make daily research a priority again. It makes me feel more connected with my research (and my ancestors). I haven’t made any startling breakthroughs, but I am giving Trello a whirl for keeping track of genealogy tasks and I look forward to writing a future post about how that is working out.

If you’re participating in the challenge (regardless of whether you officially said you were), please check in!

New year, new 30 x 30 challenge

By 48 Comments

It’s January 1. Happy new year!

There’s nothing like a new year to make me want to start up a new 30 x 30 challenge, in which I challenge myself to doing 30 minutes of genealogy research each day for 30 days. My last 30 x 30 challenge was in October 2018 and in the wrap-up post for that, I said I’d offer it up again in January. Do you care to join me?

I love this challenge because it’s not too difficult, but it is very beneficial. Doing a half hour of research a day is not a hardship (for me, anyway) most days. And the challenge makes me prioritize daily research. Otherwise, it can fall lower on my list of priorities and then it just doesn’t happen. In fact, my November and December were not great for my research, though I was able to pick it up again over the holidays.

I find daily research to be really beneficial. For me, 15 hours of research split over 30 days is much more valuable than a weekend of research where I work 7.5 hours a day. By researching this way, I stay in touch with my research and I stay focused. It also has helped me ingrain a habit of using my Evernote research log.

Please let me know in the comments if you’re up for joining me in this challenge. It’s a great way to start the new year!