“Having a streamlined, functional, spacious home literally improves your life on every level.”

–Shira Gill

Is decluttering your home on your list? So often I’m talking with women about big business goals and the thing that keeps coming up is their full closet, the cluttered living room, or all the boxes in the basement.

I asked organizing expert Shira Gill about why we get stuck on this idea — and what we can do about it. She said: “A disorganized space signals to our brain that our work is never done. Having a streamlined, functional, spacious home literally improves your life on every level.”

Decluttering your home can help you lose weight, get your finances in order, improve a relationship, or start a business. Even with that motivation it’s not easy, but Shira has amazing tips for our biggest stumbling blocks.

We talk about: 

• The big reasons we have a hard time letting go: How our identity gets tangled with our stuff and the scarcity mindset of “what if I need this someday?”
• Asking yourself what life you want to lead now or in the future — and whether the stuff is part of that life (or part of your life for this season) 
• How to get rid of hard to rehome things and setting boundaries around getting things out of your house
• Clearing a microspace (less than a room) at one time
• Getting into a decluttering flow and creating common ground around what “decluttered” means for shared space
• Decluttering our digital spaces

ABOUT SHIRA

Shira Gill is a world-renowned organizing expert and the bestselling author of three books: Minimalista, Organized Living, and LifeStyled. She’s a sought-after expert for media outlets and has been featured by Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, People, Forbes, goop, Architectural Digest, Oprah Daily, Vogue, and The New York Times. Her popular newsletter The Life Edit has subscribers from all 50 states and 140 countries.

LINKS

• www.shiragill.com 
• @shiragill
• Newsletter + Community
• Organized Living
• Minimalista
• LifeStyled

DOABLE CHANGES

At the end of every episode, we share three doable changes, so you can take what you've heard and put it into action. Change comes from action. 

Doable changes are things that you can add into your life, one at a time to make micro shifts and really create a ripple effect that will create a big change over time. Choose one that really piques your interest and roll with it. 

Here are three Doable Changes from this conversation:

• PICK A MICROSPACE TO DECLUTTER. Instead of biting off too much — your whole house, or even a whole room — pick something more specific, like the coats in the entry way. This is a lot more manageable and you can get some wins.
• CREATE A BOUNDARY. Sometimes we get so caught up in selling something or getting rid of it the right way or we choose what to get rid of but then it sits in a bag. Create a boundary around getting rid of things. Here are a few examples: I’ll ask three people and if nobody wants it, I’ll throw it away. I’ll drop any bags of clothes on my way to the grocery store every Saturday. I’ll try to sell something that is worth more than $200.
• SET A STANDARD. One of the challenges of decluttering and keeping spaces neat is having multiple people in a house. Have a family meeting and agree upon standards for common areas, such as the kitchen, living room, or entry way. What belongs there? How should things be stored? When does cleaning happen and who does it?