How’d you like to join me in committing to doing 30 minutes of genealogy research for the 30 days of November? I think November is a particularly great month for a 30 x 30 challenge, at least for those of us in the United States, since it’s the month of the Thanksgiving holiday, when many families get together. What better time to do some research in anticipation of asking questions of family members or sharing findings with them?

I’ve been doing periodic 30 x 30 challenges since August 2015. They’ve really helped me stay focused on my research. I love the public accountability and support. And I’ve learned they help create a habit of daily research. This one’s for you, not for me, because–believe it or not–I’ve been researching daily since my August 2017 challenge! That’s three months in a row without missing a day. I feel like it’s become a wonderful habit; I absolutely love starting my day with genealogy research.

I’d love to support you in a 30 x 30 challenge this month so that you can experience the joy of creating this habit. Who wants to join me?

Some time in the next couple of weeks, I’ll write a post about the benefits of brief, daily research…it’s really quite different from the sporadic, longer sessions I used to do in the past.

Just post a comment if you’d like to join the challenge!

It’s August 30, which means that the 30 days of the August 30 x 30 challenge are up. How’d the challenge work out for those of you who participated? I hope that you made strides you wouldn’t have otherwise made.

I’m happy to report that I had an excellent month. I hate to say it out loud for fear of jinxing it, but I feel like doing genealogy research first thing in the morning is becoming a habit! I’ve been getting up a little early to make time for it.  And I get started without any resistance. I have to say, it’s really a wonderful way to start the day!

I’ve also been able to create a habit of keeping a (very simple) research log, in Evernote. And as part of that logging, I always right down next steps. When I start my morning research, I consult my next steps, so I’ve been staying on track. Not once all month did I ask myself that overwhelming question, “What should I work on today?”

Tomorrow I’m going to go through the month’s next steps and compile a list of those steps I haven’t yet taken. I’m also going to take a look at a similar list I made at the end of July and see if there are some undone tasks there.

I know that having a 30 x 30 challenge has kept me on track. I’m going to try to continue the daily research in September without one. (I do have a week-long trip that might make that challenging.) If I’m not able to keep up with it, you can be sure that I’ll start a new 30 x 30 challenge in October!

Please report in and let me know how you did with your challenge, if you’d decided to participate. Even if you didn’t tell me you were participating, I’d love to know if the existence of the challenge was in any way motivating!

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!