Happy New Year friend!
The end of the first week in 2019 and I’m just now starting to feel settled. I don’t know about you, but I’m entering 2019 with excitement and energy! Every December I look back at the year and reflect. I also like to look back on the blog and see what the top 10 blog posts were in 2018.
Before I do that, I want to say thank you for being here. There are so many blogs and voices out on the internet and I’m honored that you let me have a few minutes of your time.
I love having a space to encourage people to declutter their physical surroundings in order to create space for more.
More what, you may ask?
More of anything YOU want – more joy, deeper relationships, more time for pursuing personal interests, more down time, more life giving activities.
In order to create that space, we need to let go of the things that we don’t need or use anymore, the things that don’t bring value to our lives.
In 2018, Setting My Intention focused on decluttering, monthly experiments, self care traditions, clutter free gift ideas, and ideas for slowing down – especially during the summer and holidays.
Top 10 Blog Posts in 2018
10. Meal Planning for Beginners
This post is dear to my heart because it was me being real about how I was not meal planning and it was a huge stressor for me. It’s an oldie but goodie. If you’re looking to start meal planning, this may help you start. No complex systems involved!
9. 5 Steps to Declutter an Overwhelming Space
We (or I) have a constant battle with our basement. It’s our overwhelming space that never seems to stay clear. When I wrote this post I had a renewed determination to “get it under control.” I even started Facebook Lives – here’s one from the beginning of the series if you’re curious.
As of now, however, I’ve released that as a goal because the majority of the things down there aren’t mine and it’s difficult (and generally not advised) to declutter things that are not yours. HOWEVER, the 5 steps are definitely helpful, if you are decluttering this year!
If you’re looking for a supportive group while decluttering, join my private Facebook group “Slow and Steady Decluttering” We have weekly goals and check-ins to help you make slow and steady progress on your decluttering goals!
8. Lagom: What it is and How to Start Living It
Lagom – a Swedish word that means not too much, not too little, but just the right amount. In this blog post I list areas to consider in your life that may fall under “too much” or “too little.” There are also questions to consider that were helpful for me to re-read as well! As you consider changes for the new year, this is one you don’t want to miss!
7. Decluttering Your Home
At #5 we have my main decluttering page. This page has all of my before and after photos since I started my blog. It’s a great resource to get inspiration and tips on how to declutter each room in your house.
6. Basement Clutter Tour
This is an atypical house tour that will hopefully encourage you if you have an overwhelming space. I love the beautiful house tours that are on blogs and Pinterest, but it’s just not my life.
Progress is possible! A mantra around Setting My Intention is “Progress, not perfection.” Our goal is not perfection but slow and steady progress. In order to encourage yourself to continue, sometimes you need to take stock of where you started so you can rejoice in the progress you’ve made.
If you’re looking for a supportive group while decluttering, join my private Facebook group “Slow and Steady Decluttering” We have weekly goals and check-ins to help you make slow and steady progress on your decluttering goals!
5. How to Plan the Perfect Personal Retreat in 3 Steps
When was the last time you took a personal retreat? Never?!? Well, my friend, how about this year? I started taking an annual personal retreat 5 years ago as a birthday present. Every year has looked different based on our budget and our life situation. It doesn’t have to be costly, but the time alone will be priceless!
4. Stress Free Meal Planning for Beginners
This is Step 2 in the series that I wrote back in 2015 (Step 1 is #10 above!). The subtitle to this post is: finding what works for you. There are so many ways to meal plan – and so many meal options! Meal planning really needs to be approached with simplicity and curiosity. When I started meal planning, I didn’t add in any new recipes – I just plugged in dinner meals on certain days of the week and stuck to it.
I’m getting to the point now that we need to infuse our meal plans with some new recipes. Our standards that we fall back to are feeling a little too repetitive.
3. How to Use Time Tracking to Boost Your Productivity in Less than 15 Minutes a Week
This is a guest post from my blogging friend Tanya. I love Tanya’s passion for planners and productivity. She is truly inspiring in her planning process. I love her personal photos of her planning pages. She even inspired ME to track my time for a week. I don’t do it very often, but it was eye opening.
2. 7 Steps to Start Hand Lettering
This was a guest post from a blogger friend, Morgan. She did such a great job of breaking down the process of hand lettering. This is especially written for the beginner who admires hand lettered documents and posters but felt too intimidated to try it. The process is simplified and no special tools needed! Do you have Crayola markers and paper lying around? You’re all set to start!
1. 10 Lessons Learned After a Year of Decluttering
Here is another oldie but goodie. I wrote this post after my first year of serious decluttering in 2015. I realized that decluttering required mindset work as well as the actual practical tips and work of decluttering.
This is a post I frequently come back to because decluttering is a process and takes time. It is good for me to remember the four mindset lessons and the six practical lessons that I learned that year (and continue to learn!)
If you’re looking for a supportive group while decluttering, join my private Facebook group “Slow and Steady Decluttering” We have weekly goals and check-ins to help you make slow and steady progress on your decluttering goals!
What about you? What kind of top 10 lists are you making from your life in 2018? I’d love to know in the comments!
PIN IT FOR LATER:
All of these are great! How do you determine the top 10 posts? I’ve never ranked mine like that. Thanks.
The basement clutter tour was epic! Then 10 lessons learned was so succinct. And I’m sure many people will find the hand lettering post super helpful, especially as many people are getting their new bullet journals set up in January ;P Thanks for sharing this mix of older and newer posts! Happy New Year Angela!
Unrelated to anything, but have you read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up or watched the new Netflix show Tidying Up with Marie Kondo? There was so much hype about the book, and once I read it, I understood where the hype came from, but was a little underwhelmed. I recently binged the Netflix show, which I enjoyed a lot. It was really addicting to watch. I also think that it enriched my understanding of the book. -Audrey | Brunch at Audrey’s