Welcome!

Welcome to the 14-Day Research Like a Pro Challenge! Beginning January 22, 2024, we invite you to do one small task each day to learn the Research Like a Pro process. You will receive an email each day with the task you should do.

Join our Facebook group: 14-Day Research Like a Pro Mini Challenge Group. Share your progress in the group and see what others are doing. 

Topics

There are 7 steps in the Research Like a Pro process. You will spend two days on each step. Think of this as a mini research project. You are just doing a simple project to learn the process, not tackling that brick wall you’ve had for years! Here are the 7 steps:

1. Objective

2. Analysis

3. Locality Research

4. Research Planning

5. Source Citations

6. Research Log

7. Report Writing

When you’re done with the challenge you will have completed a short research report. It might just be a paragraph summarizing the 3 searches you did, and that’s fine. The purpose is to practice each of the steps and finish the whole process. All you need is at least 15 minutes a day.

Sign up by January 21

Click below to sign up for the challenge. You will receive an email from us each day with a new task, and links to blog posts/podcasts to read for tips on how to do it. After January 21, we will close the email sign up. You will receive your first email on January 22.

Sign Me Up! 

Choose a Simple Objective

We recommend that you choose a simple objective during the challenge – since you will just be working a short amount of time each day. Maybe you could work to identify biographical details about a research subject who lived after 1870. Another idea is to more fully document a relationship that is partially documented in your tree, or continue working on a previous objective by following the future research suggestions from the report.

Learn

The goal of this challenge is to learn the Research Like a Pro process by focusing on the process instead of the objective. As you become more skilled with creating an objective, research plan, log, citations, and report, you will have an easier time completing more difficult objectives. First, get the process down. Then, tackle those difficult research questions! Invite a friend to join you in the challenge and be accountability partners. You can even form your own small study group as you go. We know you will learn from each other!

Workbook

Would you like a workbook with all the steps and resources for the 14-day challenge in one place? Purchase our workbook in either PDF (digital download) or spiral bound versions. Find the links below:

RLP 14-Day Challenge Workbook – Digital (PDF and Word/docx)

RLP 14-Day Challenge Workbook – Spiral Bound

The workbooks include access to Nicole’s ORA census citation templates. Go to the workbook links above to learn more!

Share

Share your progress with us and the others in the Research Like a Pro community during the challenge. Here are some ways to share what you’re working on:

-Join our public Facebook group! All are welcome to join. You can join here: 14 Day Research Like a Pro Mini Challenge Group

-Share your discoveries on Facebook and tag @familylocket with #ResearchLikeAPro

-Share a photo of the ancestor you’re researching on Instagram and tag @familylocket with #ResearchLikeAPro

-Tweet your questions and discoveries on Twitter and tag @familylocket with #ResearchLikeAPro and #Genealogy