We’re 18 days into the August 2017 30 x 30 challenge, in which participants are trying to do 30 minutes of research (or organizing or anything else genealogy related) for 30 days. How are things going?

I’m delighted to report that I’ve not missed a day of research. This feels especially good because this past week I had a huge team organizing project–a whole-house transformation that took my team and me four full-day sessions to complete. I had to leave the house at 7:15 am most days and didn’t get home until after 6. But I got up a little earlier than I otherwise would to get my research in. On a couple of days I did just ten minutes of research to get the ball rolling and finished the other 20 minutes in the evening.

Here’s what I’ve noticed: Since I’ve been too busy to do research for more than 30 minutes at a time much of this month, I find that I’m staying a lot more focused. I don’t have to worry about falling down the rabbit hole of chasing shiny objects, because I just don’t have time. Instead, when I come across something new, I take a note of it in my research log so I can check it later. Every morning, the first thing I do when I start my research is check the log, so I’ve been able to stay focused.

How about you? Nine readers jumped on the bandwagon in the comments when I posted the challenge on August 1. How’s it going? Have you been able to keep it up? If you missed a day, did you go right back? I’d love to hear about your successes and about any challenges I might be able to help with!

I know that the June 30 x 30 challenge ended just a month ago. It was so beneficial for my research that I’m challenging myself to an August 30 x 30 challenge.

As I wrote at the end of June, the commitment of researching daily–and the habit I was starting to get into–really helped move my research along. It kept me in touch with my ancestors and completely eliminated the “what should I work on?” overwhelm that used to plague me at the beginning of the session.

On July 1 I finished transcribing the massive Civil War pension file of my 2nd great grandfather, George Washington Adams (1845-1938). That was a great accomplishment, but it meant that my go-to project–the one I could just work on without a single thought of what I should on–is off my plate. But I have all the “next steps” I’d recorded in my research log to refer to when I’m trying to decide what to work on. So I’m feeling guided and focused.

After researching for 30 days in a row in June, I was able to continue my daily research through July 9. That’s when I headed to visit my father in Washington state and discovered on the way that he had fallen. I stayed there two weeks, and did get in some research, but my daily routine was so disrupted that researching every morning was out of the question.

So here it is August 1. I am challenging myself to completely 30 minutes of daily research for 30 days in a row. And I challenge you to join me. Let me know if you’re in!

I know that the commitment will motivate me to get out of bed earlier so I can complete my research before the rest of my day begins. And I know that my genealogy research will benefit. I’m excited to see where the month will take me!

Today’s the last day of my June 30 x 30 challenge, in which I challenged myself and my readers to do 30 minutes of genealogy research for 30 days in a row. I am delighted to report that I researched every day in June! Some days the 30 minutes flew by. Other days, that half hour felt very long. It was definitely a valuable exercise.

I don’t think I’ve had a challenge where I didn’t miss a single day. I think there were a few reasons for my success this month:

• I researched first thing in the morning. I found it to be a great way to start my day.
• If necessary, I got up a half hour early in order to fit in my research. I think it helps that it gets light so early this time of year!
• If I got up early, I went to bed early so I didn’t miss out on sleep.
• I had my transcription project to work on (see below), so I was able to make measurable progress in only 30 minutes.
• I logged each session, including “next steps” at the end of each entry so I was never at a loss for where to start.

I love keeping commitments. But successfully completing this 30 x 30 challenge made me especially happy because I found I really benefited from researching daily. This year I’m focusing on one family line (the Adams family, my paternal grandfather’s line). A couple of years ago, I sent for the huge Civil War pension file of my grandfather’s grandfather, George Washington Adams, 1845-1938. I didn’t start transcribing it until November of last year (during another 30 x 30 challenge). By the end of 2016, I had transcribed the first 55 of the 138 documents. I made some progress in the first months of this year. During this June challenge, I transcribed Documents 90 through 124. The light is shining bright at the end of the tunnel! I plan to finish transcribing before the end of July. A side note: G.W.’s death was reported in Document 110. There are 28 documents generated after his death. The Veterans Administration was all about paperwork!

Transcribing can be tedious work, but when you do it daily, you really can pick up on small details and catch inconsistencies. I had read these documents more than once. But in the process of transcribing, I picked up on things like changes of addresses, family members I’d never heard of before and discrepancies in a timeline. Because I was keeping a research log, I had a place to jot down my musings.

Another benefit to daily research is that it helped me create the habit of logging my research, something that’s been difficult for me to do in the past. I use Evernote and I keep it simple and remembered every day to do it. That kind of repetition really helps ingrain habits.

Not every session was spent transcribing. Some days I allowed myself to follow up on some of the discrepancies and research some of the new-to-me family members who popped up. Then I got to experience the joy of discovery. Thanks to this pension file, I learned about a second family that G.W. Adams had, a son and daughter born when G.W. was 62 and 68, respectively. Researching these new-to-me relatives has been fascinating.

I’m curious to see whether I’ll keep researching daily after the 30 x 30 challenge is over. Usually I revert to sporadic research at the end of the 30 days. But I’m really engaged with this family now, so I’m hopeful I’ll continue research frequently. I’m traveling to visit my father in an week. Travel often throws me way off my routine, but I think being around my father and his sister (Adamses!) will prompt me to research.

Those of you who participated in this month’s 30 x 30 challenge, please report in. Even you didn’t manage to research daily, did you find the challenge helpful?

For those of you who are participating in this month’s 30 x 30 challenge, in which we’re trying to do 30 minutes of genealogy research every day for 30 days, please report in! Are you able to research every day? Or most days anyway? Have you found it to be beneficial?

This has been an especially good challenge month for me. I’ve been to carve out time first thing in the morning most mornings. I think it helps that it gets light so early, so it’s easy to get extra early to make time for research. So far, I haven’t missed a day. My timer has been really helpful, so that I don’t get lost in the research.

In addition to researching for 30 minutes, I challenged myself to log my research daily and note next steps at the end of each session. That has been hugely helpful, because each morning I turn to the previous day’s entry and I know what to work on.

Primarily I’ve been transcribing my great great grandfather’s Civil War pension file this month, but I have taken a few forays into investigating his son and granddaughter (the brother and niece of my great grandfather) to fill in some blanks in my ancestor’s timeline. The light is shining at the end of the tunnel: So far I’ve transcribed 106 of the pension file’s 138 documents. I’d love to be able to finish the transcription project in June. (I’ve transcribed 16 documents in June so far.) We shall see if that’s possible.

I love starting the day with genealogy research. I’m growing to love my (very informal) research log. And I’m feeling really connected with the research, which makes it easier to get started.

I hope those of you who said you were up to the challenge are seeing similar benefits! Even if you’re not managing to research daily, I think keeping it top of mind with the challenge can be very helpful. I’d love to hear about your experiences!