Today’s the last day of January. Does it feel like the month lasted forever? Oh my gosh, January 1 seems like eons ago. In any case, it’s also the end of the 30 x 30 challenge. How did you do? Were you able to do genealogy research or organizing (or whatever your goal was) every day for 30 days?

My month started off GREAT! But then my research screeched to a halt on January 19. I traveled to Walla Walla on the 18th to settle my father’s estate (and I actually processed some documents on the plane) but, unfortunately, I picked up a virus of some sort while traveling. (I tested negative for COVID consistently on home tests and once I got home I went to urgent care and got a negative PCR test for COVID and a negative flu test.) While I was in Walla Walla it took all my energy to do what I was there to do and I was able to do virtually nothing else. So I did no genealogy research at all. By the time I got home to St. Louis last week I was really sick and barely able to function. I started feeling better yesterday and today my energy levels are almost normal.

What I think I want to do for myself and for my research is pick up where I left off and try to do another 11 days in a row to get back in the swing of the things. (I’m going to try to do the same thing with yoga, since my 30-day yoga journey also went off the rails.)

I sincerely hope those of you who did the 30 x 30 with me had a better time of it! I look forward to hearing about it in the comments.

We’ve passed the mid-point of our 30 x 30 challenge. How is it going?

I’ve been pleased with my ability to remember to do research and then actually do it this month. I have missed three days of the past 16 and I’ve averaged 32 minutes a day, so I’m track. Two of the 13 research sessions were spent taking webinars. One was watching Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. And one was helping a friend with her genealogy and giving her a bit of a tutorial about Ancestry and Family Search. So it wasn’t all research on my family.

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been good about logging my research in my simple Evernote research log, thanks largely to my putting a star in my spreadsheet every time I did it.

I go to Washington state tomorrow to settle my dad’s estate. I’m hopeful that won’t get in the way of daily research, though I might cut myself a little slack since I have a 12-hour trip door to door and my first flight leaves at 5:50 a.m.

I’m interested to hear how it’s going for you. Please let me know in the comments!

I’m launching a new 30 x 30 challenge for the month of January. Boy, do I need it! After virtually ignoring my research since my father passed away at the end of August, I’m ready to gently return to it. I’ve started by doing a little bit each day this week and am ready to keep a commitment to doing genealogy research (or genealogy organizing) for 30 days in a row. The commitment is typically for 30 minutes a day but I’ll be happy if I average 30 minutes a day over the course of the month.

I’m going to focus on eliminating my backlog of downloaded files, taking at least one class or webinar each week, and basically getting a handle on where I am with my research.

I’ve been doing periodic 30 x 30 challenges since August of 2015 and I find they almost always help me get back on track. I found the accountability of the challenge to be really motivating.

If you’d like to join me in committing to doing daily research in January 2023, please comment below. Feel free to let everyone know what you’ll be working on (but don’t feel like you have to). In the middle of a month, I’ll have a check-in post where you can report your progress. And at the end of the month, we’ll have a wrap-up post.

January is always a good time for me to try to create beneficial habits. Not only am I excited by the 30 x 30 challenge, I’m also really excited about Yoga with Adriene’s 30-day yoga journey, which I’ve been doing every year since 2019. If you do yoga, or are curious about doing yoga, I invite you to join me in that challenge as well!