February 1 is on Monday and I am itching for a 30 x 30 challenge. Would you like to join me? For the uninitiated, the 30 x 30 challenge is where I challenge myself (and you) to do 30 minutes of genealogy research a day for 30 days in a row. February has only 28 days, so I plan to start tomorrow (January 30). But I think anyone who does daily research (or organizing or whatever other genealogy-related thing you want to do) every day in February can call it a success.
My focus this month will be going through my source documents, which is my goal for 2021. I have an especially long (non-genealogy) task list right now, so I’m giving myself a little grace this month. Instead of asking myself to do 30 minutes of research a day, I’m asking myself to go through one source each day, making sure all the information in it was recorded and that it has a good citation. I’m confident I’ll get more than one source record done a day, so I certainly hope to have more than 30 checked off by the end of this challenge. But it’s daily work that I’m after and I want it to feel easy to accomplish.
How about you? Would you like to join the challenge? Just comment below that you’re in and what you hope to work on (if you’d like to share). I’ll post a mid-month check in and an end-of-the-month wrap up post. I hope the challenge gives that you little push you need to have a wonderfully productive month!
As a continuation from my reply to your 2021 simple genealogy goal post, I’m on target and an overachiever with my my Genealogy Do-Over January 30×30 challenge S.M.A.R.T. Goal, taking my time, checking and double checking my work. I’m using the final beta of the soon to be released RootsMagic 8 on my iMac. They’ve abandoned their wine emulation. This is their first naive Mac program. I’m new to the program, which slows me down. Fortunately, previous webinars for RM7 can be applied to RM8, along with some RM8 preview videos. So far, I love the simplicity and straightforward interface. Their source citations follow Evidence Explained and can be customized.
Count me in on February’s 30×30 Challenge!
Daily effort will help you get used to RootsMagic 8, I’m sure! I have to ask. What’s their “wine emulation”?
In 2014, I began my genealogy journey, but I didn’t find many programs for Mac. I fell in love with Legacy Family Tree & learned I could run it using Parallels. After gathering 1968 names and basic information but no documents or source citations, the program bogged down and would freeze. I moved to MacFamily Tree and Heredis to continue gathering names. I spent time in webinars, classes, and reading to learn how to conduct research. They were ok, but I wasn’t thrilled.
Wine (third party software) allows Windows programs to run on iMac. RootsMagic used to advertise they had RootsMagic with MacBridge. With the release of RM7 they dropped MacBridge from their advertising, but wine emulation was still running in the background. I don’t know the technical aspects.
I’ve wrestled with my software choices since 2016 exploring many options. This past fall I decided to do a Genealogy Do-Over starting with a fresh database. I have the latest edition of MacFamily Tree, purchased Heredis 2021, and trialed Reunion 13. I settled on MacFamily Tree and prepared to start my Do-Over 1 January.
My inbox featured an email from RootsMagic granting access to their final beta to their community. I jumped at the chance to try their new pure Mac version. January’s flown by and I like their new program. There’s still some minor glitches but that’s to be expected. They’ve issued many updates. I’ve beta tested other software in the past. The RootsMagic team’s doing a great job.
I believe I found my software companion.
I had not heard of wine (at least not in a computer context). Thanks for filling me in. It’s nice to know you like the new RootsMagic so much!
Janine,
Count me in. I’ll be continuing my research plan of identifying all the places my paternal grandfather, John Richard Guffy, lived during his lifetime. I’m following the Research Like a Pro eCourse and spending time with the educational focus of learning to use new record types as I research.
Thanks for the challenge.
Gwen Jackson
Hi Gwen,
I took RLP a couple years ago. It’s a fabulous course. I didn’t succeed in answering my research objective during the course, but I narrowed it down to two possibilities. When my Genealogy Do-Over focuses on that couple, I will revisited those possibilities.
Good luck discovering all the places your paternal grandfather lived. This will add new dimensions to his story and take you on new adventures. Maybe you’ll plan an trip to one or more of those locations.
That sounds like a great project, Gwen! Glad to have you as part of the challenge.
I’m in and will continue scanning and organizing more of my paper documentation.
Excellent, Zenda@
Count me in. I need to finish compiling the images for my book – and putting them into a useable format for the printer. If I get that done, I need to review all the downloads and either add them or file them under the appropriate ancestor. That should be enough. LOL – but then I need to format the book and create an index?! I may hire that out. PS Hazel Thornton is a friend! I saw the interview by paper doll.
That’s quite a list you have, Molly! I’m sure you’ll get a lot done this month. How fun that we’re both friends with Hazel!
I’m in. To continue on my do over.
Great, Trisha. I hope you make great progress in your do over this month!
I’m in. I am waiting for a 52 page copy of a divorce of my 3x great grandparents. She is divorcing him and there are four pages of her testimony. Can you imagine! I think they had 12 children so this should be interesting. I hope to transcribe it. Janine, what program did you use when you transcribed the military records.
It’s interesting how I learned of this divorce. I was watching online a webinar from the State Historical Society of Mo and Bill Eddleman used this divorce record as an example. I knew these names, so I wrote to him and found out where to obtain them. The Cape Girardeau County Archives were very helpful. I plan on making a trip there sometime when we once again feel safe to go places. Looking forward to doing some genealogy everyday!!!
Hi Vickie,
Divorce files can be juicy, maddening, and sad. Serendipity strikes again. That’s probably the best webinar you ever watched.
Vickie, that divorce record will be so interesting! And it’s amazing that it was used as an example in a talk you heard. I love that.
For my civil-war transcriptions, I just used Pages (the word processing program I use on my Mac). But I did dabble with using Scrivener for a transcription of some newspaper articles. I blogged that here: https://organizeyourfamilyhistory.com/using-scrivener-to-help-with-transcribing/.
I’m in. I haven’t done any genealogy since the holidays. I need to regroup and refocus. I’m going to start working on a profile of my great-great grandfather, Frederick Charles Adams.
I hope you find the challenge, helpful, Karen!
I’m in! We are getting ready for a kitchen remodel, and I came across a bunch of manila envelopes of genealogy stuff in the kitchen closet where we keep shoes, coats, and the vacuum. Why they were there in the first place is another story!
Hi Leslie,
What better place to store genealogy stuff. Hope those Manila envelopes contain wonderful treasures. Good luck with the kitchen redo too.
I hope that manila envelope is full of some great stuff, Leslie! Good luck with your research and with your kitchen remodel!
Count me in!! Maybe I’ll actually achieve one thing this time around, although I spend at least 30 minutes daily doing genealogy research. My goal is get those papers filed; haven’t done much today!! I hate filing; too much like work!
I’m a weirdo who enjoys filing, Carol. But if you don’t enjoy it, a timer can be really helpful. Just put away what you don’t get filed so you don’t leave a mess. I wrote a blog post about clearing your research desk that has some advice on tackling filing. https://organizeyourfamilyhistory.com/how-orderly-is-your-research-desk/
I am glad you are having the challenge. It has been 6 months since I have been able to do any genealogy research. I need to go over my Evernote and Trello notes to see where I left off. I will probable work on finishing my documentation on one of my ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War.
Jerry, so glad to have you back! The nice thing is that you’re so organized with your Evernote notebooks and Trello boards that you’ll be able to pick right up. So glad you’re part of the challenge.
Just what I need to get me started after a long absence from genealogy. I need to get files loaded to my new pc and get the latest version of FTM installed.
Excellent, Emily. Welcome to the challenge. I hope it’s helpful!
I am in! As part of my 2021 Re-set goal I intend to begin re-looking at my maternal Grandfather’s family. I have a lot of information that came from a number of different people, so I plan to start going through it all and checking the information, and noting anything that I can’t verify for myself, and putting in my source citations for the information that is able to be verified, after that I will set up a research plan based on where my information gaps are. This will help me get my routines back up and running, and keep me focussed.
Glad you’re taking part in the challenge, Missy! I think your project will be really beneficial and satisfying!
I’m in! I need a kick start to working on my software citations. I’ve been seeking out information about how others name their master files in RootsMagic and now have some ideas about how I want to name my own.
Hi Linda,
I named my RootsMagic file using the four surnames of my grandparents.
I also created a digital file system on my computer to store all documents etc. I created a master file, then created a folder for paternal and maternal lines. I created a folder inside the paternal folder for the various record groups, Next copied and pasted that folder again in the paternal, then twice in the material folders. here’s some websites.
https://www.cyndislist.com/organizing/filing/
https://blog.foldermarker.com/2020/how-to-use-color-coding-in-genealogical-research/
http://www.genrootsorganizer.com
http://www.michiganfamilytrails.com/2013/12/digital-folder-organizing-naming-made.html
https://organizeyourfamilyhistory.com/loving-my-electronic-file-system/
https://genealogypants.com/category/genealogical-preparation/organization/
https://www.thoughtco.com/organizing-your-genealogy-files-1420709
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/organizing-genealogy-files/
https://family-tree-advice.blogspot.com/2019/02/naming-genealogy-documents.html
https://hubs.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/PG-Organizing_your_research_1024x1024.jpg?width=432&name=PG-Organizing_your_research_1024x1024.jpg
Hope this helps. When I download or scan documents, I store them in the appropriate file on my computer. I can link the document in the media file in RM.
Great, Linda! I’m glad the challenge will be helpful and it looks like Cheri has provided some great info for naming your master files!
I’m in! Trying to do more genealogy and this is a perfect way to get going! Will be working on organizing and brick walls. (Irish, of course!)
Excellent, Janet! I hope this gives you the motivation you’re looking for!
I’m in too. My 2021 goal is getting the story of at least one family group, Abraham and Christian, on to “paper”., But I found more than one file that had me muttering, “And where did I find this?” So it’s a citation review for me.
I’m seeing a theme in this challenge; a lot of us are working on source citations. I think that’s excellent. Welcome to the challenge, Roberta!
I’m in. As a family history buff for more than 20 years, I have collected a LOT of stuff. Although I am usually an organized person, I have let my family history stuff get way out of hand! I have been reading a couple of books on breaking through the brick walls in family history research. One of them suggested re-visiting EVERY piece of documentation you have. Using the 30×30 challenge, I hope to make a dent in that re-visitation!
Jodi, 30 x 30 will be great for this project! It really should help feel it feel less overwhelming. Welcome to the challenge!
I’m in too. I have to move my GEDCOM file to family tree software program that recently got installed on the newer pc. Then I want to go through hints on my maternal line to see if anything looks worth checking out. If I get through that before the end of the month, then I’ll look at my paternal line and do the same thing.
That sounds terrific, Mary. I’m glad you’re doing the challenge!
Janine, I am in! I think I will do like you: one source per day. I know I have a lot of census records to do. I am also doing your declutter challenge this month, so I will be busy!
Christy, I was so happy to see that you signed up for Declutter Happy Hour! I think our one source per day will be a really gentle way to do the 30 x 30. I hope it goes well for you!
I’m in. I am taking a citations class so I can do my classwork 30×30!
Excellent!!
I’m in. Just not too sure where to start and am looking for suggestions on what to focus on first.
Two bedrooms are home to scads of photos, and documents (from all of my lines) that need to be sorted/organized, digitized … attached to a programme … and sourced. One album is from the mid- to late-1700’s of a family who emigrated from Ireland to Ontario, Canada, and became quite prominent here. Of course none of the photos, in this particular album) are labelled.
Hampered by ADHD and totally overwhelmed by the enormity of these tasks, yet determined to start somewhere.
(Note: I have overgrown family trees on Ancestry, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, and bearly started one on RM7, but didn’t get very far.)
Again, any suggestions? I need a lifeline.
Welcome to the challenge, Norma. One way to make giant, overwhelming projects less overwhelming is to break them down into small tasks. So perhaps you can think about the small tasks you can do to make progress. A timer is always helpful, as well. Thirty minutes at a time you can get a lot done without feeling like you’re pushing a boulder up a hill. In your shoes, the first thing I would do is try to brainstorm the steps to get where you want to go, and then start on the first step.
In case it’s helpful, you might like look at Stacy Julian’s excellent blog post, How to Begin with The Box (https://www.stacyjulian.com/blog/how-to-begin-with-the-box-). Best of luck with your amazing project!
Janine is spot on! As a retired teacher, and mildly ADD myself, the best way to accomplish any task is to chunk it. I also with some tasks, “eat the frog first” or do the thing I like the least and get it over with. That works wonders for housework, not so sure about genealogy.
Janet
Thanks, Janet, for that note of support. “Eat the frog” can work for lots of things…including genealogy sometimes, I think!
Count me in, please, Janine. I am almost always much more interested in finding new relatives and learning about them, so I do regularly challenge myself to, for example, tidy up citations or, as last month, organize/delete old online bookmarks. I just took a peek at my biggest tree with Family Tree Analyzer which points to errors and problems, for instance, 3 people born after their baptisms! Ha, I know how that happened. So that’s what I’m adding to my morning routine this month – cleaning up these errors. Thanks for the nudge.
Great, Diane! I love that you’re adding this to your morning routine. I know that if I really want to get something done, I do it in the morning!