My blog turns 19 this month!

17 November 2025

On November 10, 2006, I published my first post on this blog. It was entitled, What is organized?. Not surprisingly, it received zero comments. I’m pretty tickled to report that reading it now doesn’t embarrass me!

In the 19 years since, I’ve published 1714 posts (including my Worth Repeating posts, where I revisit favorite posts). That’s an average of 90 posts a year or almost two a week.

Writing a blog is a lot of work—particularly if you dedicate yourself to posting regularly. But for me it’s been well worth the effort. This blog has helped me personally and helped my business in so many ways. Here are a few:

It helps my search rankings, which puts me in front of prospective clients. Blogging consistently for 19 years has been immensely helpful to my business.
It lets clients and prospective clients get to know me and understand that I’m not perfect.
It also lets clients and prospective clients know that despite my imperfection, I have expertise.
It allows me to share my expertise.
It’s allowed me to connect with people and companies throughout the world.
It’s given me a lens through which to look at the world.
It’s helped record my personal history so I don’t have to rely on my memory (in a way it’s a very public journal).

One thing I like about blogging, over relying on social media channels to reach prospective clients, is that a blog is less ephemeral. Past social media posts are harder to find. Now I have a 19-year library all in one place that anyone can search or browse. I also prefer the spaciousness of blogging that social media doesn’t permit. I can use as many words as I want.

This is my first blog, but it’s not my only blog. In 2012 I started a second blog, Organize Your Family History, which marries my passion for organizing with my passion for genealogy research. And in 2023, after I became a YNAB Certified Coach, I started a coaching practice called Peace of Mind Spending and established a blog on that website, where I write about money mindset as well as nuts and bolts posts around using the YNAB software.

Blogging regularly takes discipline. But it’s also something that can easily become a habit. I don’t pre-write (or even pre-plan) my posts. I just decide what to write each writing session. I don’t use AI to write my posts. I made my living as a freelance writer prior to opening my organizing business in 2005, so writing comes naturally to me.

I try to blog once a week on each of my blogs, though I’m the first to admit that doesn’t always happen. I include a link to the month’s blog posts in every issue of my monthly email newsletter, which is an easy way to make sure you don’t miss a new post.

I’m always open to blog post ideas from readers. If you have an idea for a post, please email it to me!

Photo by Jane Graystone on Unsplash

Tagged with: accomplishments, anniversary reflections, blogging, blogs, habits, writing