Planning is such a key element in the success of a business. "If you fail to plan you are planning to fail" (Benjamin Franklin). In my Planning for Success course, I walk participants through Stepping Out, Stepping Up, Stepping In and Stepping through to a successful plan for their year.

This blog post further explores the four steps and why they are important. It provides readers with a simple, yet effective, process to set themselves up for a successful year.

Aside from the post receiving good engagement and many visitors, it features the incredible progress my clients have made. I am so proud of them, their dedication to change, and their ongoing pursuit of their goals.

Habit change is the most important key to organizing success in my opinion.

I consider this to be my best post this year because I believe that it gets to a much overlooked aspect of decluttering, the emotional toll that clutter and the process of decluttering has on our clients.

In this post, I explored connections between seemingly random events in my life that all affected me in significant ways. I was hesitant to "put it out there" but the response was very good.

In this post, I share the difference between distress and eustress, and how we can actually choose a new response to help us face challenges better. I also offer the concept of mindfulness as a way of paying attention to what is happening around us. I share a personal example of how I was able to slow down and respond to a situation in a calmer manner that was good for my heart, soul and mind. May you be blessed - and less stressed - as you find peace in the chaos!

I received more appreciative feedback for this blog than any other this year. While it was a classic November gratitude blog, I think it brings home some of the really valuable ideas of being grateful for all the little things, self love etc. I think it's personal, funny and relatable.

It's a post that is important because it shows my clients that I can relate to their situation. It also took me a lot of courage to write and post. I am proud of it!

Applicable to anyone that wants to be more productive with a small shift.

This post garnered a large number of views on social media, and generated several email responses from clients and others who felt the information struck close to home. So many of us feel as if we can never do enough and are never caught up, and this post apparently hit close to home for many!

As a retired professional organizer and genealogist I don't blog about the Menendez case often. This is partly because I already wrote a whole book about it (Hung Jury: The Diary of a Menendez Juror) and nothing much usually happens from year to year that can't be captured on my website. I thought my previous post, "Menendez Brothers Update: When it Rains it Pours" was going to be it for awhile. But things kept happening!

This post is popular because it's a topic that is important and not often talked about. It offers smart, practical advice about getting your home ready before surgery. It explains how to make your space safer and easier to move around in, with real stories that show why this matters. The tips are simple but can make a huge difference in someone's recovery.

This post became popular this year with everyone planning or going on cruises. Packing for a cruise can be tricky. This post shares a packing list for a family. It shows what to bring and what not to bring to make the cruise more enjoyable.

This has been my most popular blog post year. It is full of useful information that anyone organizing their photos.

This topic has become a common theme in my work this year. It is so important to really look at the connection between emotional and physical clutter which helps with clarity around letting go with more ease.

I consider this my best post of the year because it was originally featured on Becoming Minimalist. It is also the heart of my decluttering and organizing philosophy that most people overlook. Being organized is more about the empty space than the stuff itself. Allowing enough margin for items to be removed, used, and returned creates the systems we need to not only set up organizational systems but also maintain them.

This post received lot of comments, and continues to receive visits months later. I selected it as my favorite because I think it discusses a situation that most people find themselves in: having to come up with a solution and having no idea what to do.

Additionally, it begins with one of the most "memorable" moments of my year, a personal story that I think will always be part of the family lore. 🙂

I think it reflects a lot about who I am as a coach, instructor, and leader. And, words have been on my mind again - clear communication feels like one of the pillars of organizing for me.