My 2026 Monthly Family History Challenges

One of the questions I hear most often is, “Where do I even start?”

And honestly? I’ve asked myself that same question more times than I can count.

Family history often feels bigger than we expect—full of unfinished threads and quiet pressure to do more. I created these monthly challenges to slow that feeling down. They’re not a checklist, but a rhythm: one small focus each month, taken at an unhurried pace. I built them for myself, and for others like me—beginners and hobbyists who care deeply, but don’t want this work to feel heavy. All it takes is curiosity.

Here is a teaser for each month’s challenge:

January – Spreadsheet Sleuth
February – Her Story
March – Siblings First
April – Pull Up a Chair
May – Obituary Quest
June – Era Explorer
July – Census Stories
August – Ancestor Occupations
September – Newspaper Research Blitz
October – Objects with a Past
November – One Branch Deep
December – The Cluster Study

I’m doing these challenges because I need this rhythm too. After years of researching, teaching, and helping others tell their stories, I’ve learned that I do my best family history work when I slow down and give my attention to one small thing at a time.

Each month, I’ll be working through that focus myself, in real time. I’ll share what I’m doing, what I’m noticing, and how it’s shaping the way I think about my own people and their stories. This isn’t about finishing a project or checking something off a list. It’s about staying connected—to the past, to the stories, and to the reasons I started this work in the first place.

I’m not aiming for perfect or complete. I’m choosing presence. One month. One focus. One small step at a time.