99: Five Steps to Organise Your Home & Life with Organisational Expert Shira Gill

Transcript

Five Steps to Organise Your Home & Life with Organisational Expert Shira Gill

SPEAKERS

Meaghan Smith, Shira Gill

 

Meaghan Smith  00:21

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the Money Mindful Podcast. I am your host Meaghan Jean Smith. I'm a money mindset and life coach for women. I help women entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs to change their money mindset so they can create the money and life that they want. So today, I am super super pumped because I have Shira Gill on the show with us and Shira - if you've been a longtime listener of the show, you know that Shira has actually been on the Money Mindful podcast before - it was way back in Episode 55. And her episode was actually one of my most popular episodes so you guys all love Shira. So I have her on today to share some really special stuff that she's doing in her world. But if you're new to the podcast and you haven't, you don't know the goodness that is Shira Gill, I'm just going to introduce her before I bring her on just to give you an idea of who she is.

 

Meaghan Smith  01:25

So Shira's mission is to inspire people to clear physical and mental clutter so they can reduce their environmental footprint. Man, how good is that. To create space for what they truly care about, and live lives more aligned with their core values. And over the past decade, she has helped thousands of clients all over the globe, and developed a process and toolkit that applies to everyone regardless of their budget, space or lifestyle. And she kinda knows her stuff, guys. And she's been around, she's been featured in Goop, Parents, Real Simple, Domino, Sunset House, Beautiful, The New York Times, and she has a book coming out called minimalist art. And that's why I've got her on the show today because it's rolling out across the globe over the next month. And I want her to tell us all about it. Because I love what Shira does. It complements what I teach on the podcast so much. So I'm absolutely thrilled. Shira, welcome.

 

Shira Gill  02:31

Thank you so much. Thank you for that very lovely intro. I'm so happy to be back.

 

Meaghan Smith  02:38

You're welcome. Listen, I love what you do. And so much of money mindset staff is all about decluttering, our mind, our thoughts, all the things, and you do both, like you do the decluttering of the mind business and you do the decluttering of our home. So you're kind of a super woman, and I need all my listeners to know about you because I know that what you do will help them too. So before we kind of launch into it, I wanted to talk about, so you define minimalism as not the lack or absence of something, but rather it's about having the perfect amount. So I was thinking if we start - can you tell us a little bit about that? Because I think that will help my listeners kind of get an introduction to you and what what this is all about, what you're all about.

 

Shira Gill  03:37

Yeah, absolutely. So I think, I mean, minimalism gets a bad rap. I think people when they hear the word minimalism, they kind of conjure up this stark white room, or like, a capsule wardrobe with four shirts. And so people really think about, you know, scarcity and these rigid rules, and it does not sound like a lot of fun. My version of minimalism is really just about being intentional. And I know that's so much of what your work is about with money is just being intentional. And so I think minimalism is not about having like, this certain specific number of things. It's really about defining who you are, what you care about, what the results are in your life that you're going after. And then making sure that everything you surround yourself with is really elevating and supporting that vision and adding value. And so you know, I've worked with so many people now and that number, that quantity of stuff varies vastly from client to client. But my goal, you know, with my book, my programmes, everything I do, is really just about helping people to get laser focused on what do you want? and what's in the way of it? and let's strip away all the clutter that's in the way both mentally and actually the physical stuff that you own, the clothes that you wear, everything should have a purpose and feel good. So I think of it as a really fun process. And it's about adding to your life, enhancing your life, and not about taking away.

 

Meaghan Smith  05:14

Yeah, I love that. And what I love about your book, which this is what I want everybody to have, is that as the reader of the book, you coach, you coach the reader, you actually ask incredible questions and coach the reader through decluttering their space. And that's what I think is so unique about your book, and why I'm so keen to tell people about it. Because it's, you know, there's other decluttering gurus out there, we all know, you know, those big names. And you know, they're fantastic, too. But I think there's an added element, there's the action of clearing out your house, you can for sure do that. But there's the mindset work on top of that, that I think is more important because when we're decluttering stuff, it's not just about letting go of a physical object, it's letting go of the way that we think about it, that it's okay, you know, we don't have to hold on to it. But listen, I'm getting away from myself here because what I'd really love, can we talk about - there's a five step process that you've got in the book, you talked about clarifying - clarify, edit, organise, elevate, and maintain. And I think this is, I want to know more about this. And I think this would be great to talk about.

 

Shira Gill  06:39

Perfect. So yeah, I had, you know, I had helped hundreds of people in person and then thousands virtually through my programme, and I realised, it took me almost a full decade actually, to realise I did have a process, and that it could be kind of distilled into these five steps. It really took me some time to go, Oh, I do, I do have a process that I just keep repeating again and again. And the cool thing about this process is I realised, not only can it be applied to your home, and the process of editing and organising your home, you can apply this same process to anything in your life or your business. So I'll kind of break it down quickly.

 

Shira Gill  07:19

So step one is clarify. So that is where you get laser focused on your current values, priorities and goals. So I asked questions in the book, like, What do you care about deeply? What do you want to create space for? What new results do you want to create in your life? And I really want people to take the time to think about these questions and really arrive at their own answers because otherwise, you're just moving piles of stuff around. But you don't really have that crystallised, why.

 

Shira Gill  07:53

So once you get clear, step two is edit. And that's where I really spend the bulk of my time, because that's where most people get really stuck and bogged down. So editing is simply subtracting the items that don't serve or support your vision. And I really believe paring down to the essentials is the most direct route to figuring out who you are, and what you care about. That process can be so transformative for people. So really, it's about creating a home that reflects who you are and who you want to be, instead of maybe who you once were in the past. And so editing is like the big juicy module, if you will, where you're actually slogging through the piles and deciding do I want to keep it? What do I want to do with it? So I spend a lot of time there. Once you've taken the time to edit and strip away all of that clutter, all of the things that don't belong or make sense, then step three is organise. I am you know, I've been for more than a decade a professional organiser, but what's funny is, I spend much more time in the first two steps, clarify and edit. And then once you've done those things, I find the organising really falls into place.

 

Shira Gill  09:10

So once you've slogged through the piles, and you're really clear, "here are the things I want", organising is really as simple as setting up intuitive systems that simplify your space in your life. So sometimes that's literally just taking piles and dumping them into a basket and calling it a system. I try to make my systems as simple as possible so a five year old could use them. Once you've done that, because I love, like many people, I love, you know, design and aesthetics and I think it makes it more fun to maintain your home when you like looking at the things that surround you. So elevate is just adding only things that improve your space and get you closer to your goals. So even simple things like adding a beautiful candle on your desk or fresh flowers, or I see you have beautiful plants sitting behind you. So it doesn't have to be overwrought or overcomplicated, but just again being intentional about what you surround yourself with.

 

Shira Gill  10:13

And then that final step maintain is just implementing some daily habit shifts so you can maintain your hard work. So some of that is just being the gatekeeper of your home, not bringing in more than you can manage. Or a really simple example is like a five minute tidy before you go to bed. I kind of forced my family to do this, even if we're tired, and we don't feel like it, it's just think of our future selves in the morning when we wake up and the surfaces are nice and clean, and there's not dirty dishes that are greeting us. So that's basically it in a nutshell, the five steps.

 

Meaghan Smith  10:51

Yeah, and what I was thinking of when you were saying that is the thing that really struck me when I started getting more intentional about organising the way my home is, and the way my wardrobe is, is how much of a drain it was when I hadn't organised it. And I wasn't actually aware of that until I did it. And I want to give an example because I think this would be something that a lot of people relate to. I am the kind of person who is totally fine with wearing my partner's old band t-shirts to bed, I'm like yeah, that's fine. I don't need to have, I mean, I also have a beautiful silk pair of pyjamas thank you very much, but I'm totally fine with just chucking on an old band t-shirt. However, something - when I started going through my wardrobe, I had this old pair of tracksuit pants that I used to wear and my partner's old band t-shirt, but I realised when I saw myself wearing that in the mirror, I didn't like what it looked like, but I just wore it because it's like, oh, it's fine. It's no big deal, you know, environmental footprint, I don't like buying unnecessary things.

 

Meaghan Smith  12:05

But I just thought you know what, I don't want to be somebody who wears an old tracksuit anymore, and I bought a new tracksuit because I definitely want to be someone who wears tracksuits at home, I'm completely down with that. But I couldn't believe what a difference it made, like just a really simple thing like that. Just walking past and getting a glimpse of myself in a nice tracksuit, as opposed to an old one that I've had for years. And it just freed up some attention. And that was just one little thing. And what I want the listener today to take on board is if you can create that amount of free space in your mind from just one simple thing, imagine if you did that with your whole house, like it's kind of almost unimaginable before you start, like how much mental space we can create when we clear the physical space. Do you reckon? What do you think about that?

 

Shira Gill  13:12

Oh yeah, I love that. And I love that example. I did the same thing with my pyjamas. I realised you know, I had all of these kind of old ratty mediocre pyjamas and I just realised like I would rather have one or two amazing pairs that fit and made me feel good and I liked the fabrics and they felt good against my skin. And so I donated all of my pyjamas and I bought one pair that I loved and then you know, bought another pair so I have two and you know I do the laundry, but it's all that I need and I love them both. And so my mantra has kind of become fewer, better things, across the board. And I 100% agree that it's that mental energy like when you know that everything in your home serves a purpose, that all of the clothes in your wardrobe fit your body, feel good, you like the colours and the textures and the style. It takes out so much mental energy, so much decision fatigue, so much wading through the piles so it's really like wanting that freedom for other people that prompted me to start my business in the first place was kind of tapping into like, I figured out something, and I want to share it with all the women I can because I'm seeing like having so much less stuff to manage has levelled up every aspect of my life. It's not just my wardrobe, or just you know, the mugs in my kitchen. It's not having that kind of anguish on a day to day basis.

 

Meaghan Smith  14:54

Yeah, and I'm going back to clothes here, I actually want the focus on something completely different, but that's all right, we'll get there. The thing about clothes too, that I find really interesting is they, for me, they represent different periods of my life. Some of my clothes, like there were things that I wore at different times, which I absolutely loved. But they're not me anymore. They're not what I wear anymore. And even though they might be a really expensive, beautiful silk dress, or, it's like, I don't wear that now. That's not me. I'm a different person than I was back then. Like, big undies. There are no small undies now, in my underwear drawer. Listen, I'm in my 40s I look at small undies now, and I'm like, what the actual f? There is no way I am putting that on my body. Big undies all the way. This is who I am now.

 

Shira Gill  15:53

I love it. Love it. It's so good.

 

Meaghan Smith  15:58

But it's like, Yes, that was who I was at one stage. And that might have been six months ago or six years ago. But I'm not that person anymore. And I don't have to keep wearing those same clothes, because it's almost like we're representing ourselves as someone that we're not anymore.

 

Shira Gill  16:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the the fun thing is that we get to reinvent ourselves whenever we want and kind of start over and make new decisions and that our identity doesn't come from just the things we own. Like I know so many people who were so attached to their bands t-shirts, you know, from school, and it feels like if I give this up, I'm giving up this whole part of my life. But your life doesn't live in a piece of fabric. You know, it's bigger than that. And so I think being able to separate from that is so freeing and liberating.

 

Meaghan Smith  16:48

Oh, 100%. Alright, so I want to direct our conversation in a moment, to how we can apply this five step process to our home offices. But before we do, I just want to ask are there - What are some common obstacles that people face when we're trying to organise our home? Like, what are some questions we can ask ourselves also to help find solutions for those common problems, obstacles?

 

Shira Gill  17:17

Yeah. So some of the big, I mean, I see a few like, big obstacles. One is just, I don't have the time, this is too big, it's too much. Why even start, I'm never gonna get there. And for that reason, I really broke my book into these, like, I call them 15 minute wins. So I really designed, I'm a working mom, I work full time, I have two kids, a husband, a barking puppy. So I totally get that most people cannot take off weeks from their life to edit and organise and style their homes, but everyone can find 15 minutes. So I think one big thing is just, I don't have the time so why even start. And I really do want to empower people, I see it again and again, when I kind of encourage somebody, let's just do a drawer, or let's just do one shelf, that there is this adrenaline rush and this feeling of accomplishment and feeling of, well, I did do something and it does feel better, and I am making progress. So that's one big one, is just, it's all too much, and not even starting. Another one is I think there is a big misconception, you know, thanks to very good marketing, that products are going to solve all of our problems. So that running out to the container store and buying all of the bins and baskets and newfangled things is gonna help us get organised, when in fact, you know, elevating is the fourth step in my process. So before I let anyone buy anything, it's really, let's get clear about what we want. Let's strip away the clutter. Let's set things up in intuitive ways. And then if we want, we can go buy some cute bins and baskets. But what I do see again and again, is people whose homes are now just brimming with bins and baskets, but they're still not organised.

 

Shira Gill  19:10

And then I would say another big one is just asking the wrong questions. And so I think often people really focus on sunken cost or gifts and guilt and they just get stuck feeling like they can't really let go of anything because everything has a value or everything could be useful maybe one day. And so for that I really just encourage people to start asking themselves better questions when they're contemplating what to keep and what to let go of. So a few of my favourites are, does this item support my current values and priorities. So that really just gets you right into the present and makes it hard to hang on to something that just makes zero sense for your life. I like asking, could this item be more useful or helpful for another person? I think sometimes generosity can be really helpful in letting go. I know for me when I've, you know, had kind of a poor shopping choice and maybe bought like a handbag that was so expensive, but it's just, I'm never using it, it doesn't make sense. If I think of someone that I know would be jumping for joy to have that handbag, for me, I can then let it go, kind of joyfully, like, Oh, I just made someone's day and now I don't have to stare at this thing that I was not using, that was just making me feel guilty and regretful.

 

Shira Gill  20:41

And then another one is just, is this item really worth the space it's taking up in my home? So I like to think about, you know, having this clean slate, if you think of your home, everything's empty, it's just totally a clean slate, and thinking, what would I add in on purpose, and then looking at the things you own, and really being willing to release those things that you wouldn't add, you wouldn't buy today, don't make sense for your life. So those are just a few that hopefully will be helpful.

 

Meaghan Smith  21:12

Yeah, I love that second point that you made. And that relates so much to money thinking Shira, like how you can get in this scarcity mindset where we're scared to let things go, because we think we can't recreate it again, or we're sort of hanging on to old stuff. But the funny thing is that I've found every single time without fail, when I let go of things, it just makes room for the new to come in. It's unbelievable how that works. And it's the same with money. It's almost like it's that generosity part too, I love that, that you mentioned that, that really coming from that place of abundance. And that's where, I think we touched on this in our last episode we did together, where we talked about the abundance of having less, you know, that's connected to generosity, of letting it go passing it on, and creating space for the new. And I think that that's an area that a lot of people are unconscious of, that we hold on to things because we're in that scarcity mindset, that we need all the things because we're not going to be able to buy it again. Or we might need that one day, we don't want to waste money. But really, that is coming from a place of scarcity and not abundance, which is so counterintuitive when you think having less is abundance, but it is.

 

Shira Gill  22:44

I think the less I own, the more abundant I feel, and it always surprises me. But when I feel like I can give things away, because I believe I'll always have enough, that is the most empowering, feeling and belief to practise. So I really practise that. Like I kind of challenge myself, when I have something that's really nice that I don't use, instead of trying to sell it and get, you know, recover a few dollars. I challenge myself, let me just give this to someone who wouldn't be able to buy it, who will be thrilled, because it instils in me this feeling of abundance and this feeling of generosity. That feels so much better than getting a little bit of cash.

 

Meaghan Smith  23:24

Yeah, yeah, I love that. And I mean, likewise, I mean, if you're, if you're in a tight spot, that there's no better way to make some more money by selling stuff, like by all means do that. But so many of us, we're not in a tight spot, we're not that tight. Like it's just, we can let it go. We're just not used to being in that flow of being so generous. It's like oh, this cost a lot of money, so we should hang on to it. It's like no, it cost a lot of money, and wouldn't it be amazing to give it to someone else who loves it?

 

Shira Gill  23:54

Yeah. And I'll say I certainly have been in positions in my life where I did need to sell the item because I needed more money than time. And I think the question that always helps me is just do I need more time right now? Or do I need more money? And sometimes that changes throughout your life. And that's kind of how I base my decisions in terms of, am I going to give this luxury item away? Or am I going to try to recover some cash. So that may help people as well because I know there have been times in my life where I needed to hustle to make the money. And now I'm fortunate enough to work hard and make good money. And so I have to check myself when I want to list you know, a handbag online that maybe I'm going to get 30 US dollars for and it's going to take an hour of my time to photograph it and list it and sell it and respond to inquiries and then it's really useful to think well right now. I really need more time than I need this $30 so let me pass it on and pay it forward.

 

Meaghan Smith  24:56

Yes, I love that. I absolutely love that. Alright. So Let's talk about how we can use this five step process to organise our home office, because so many of us are working from home right now, especially in Australia where I am, where I think we're entering four months of really strict lockdown right now. So I can tell you what, that having an organised and nice space at home to work from, I think is so relevant. So can you help us create that for ourselves in the simplest possible way, like really small but impactful steps, we can take, that are manageable.

 

Shira Gill  25:38

Yes, and I can say, you know, I have spent, I guess the last nearly two years, you know, in my home in and out of lockdown with kids home, and I don't have a home office. So I have had to figure out how to make my dining room table functional as a home office, and a podcast studio and all of the things and then switch magically back into the dinner table. And so I just want to recognise that there are many people that don't even have a home office, but are working from home. And so whatever situation you're in, I think where I always start is that clarity piece, is just what do you need to be able to do or accomplish in your workspace? And once you figure that out, then you can decide, well, then what are the things that I need to make that possible? What are the essentials, if I really strip it down. And I used to have a home office, and then I gave it up so my kids could have their own rooms.

 

Shira Gill  26:38

So I went from having the desk and the file cabinet and all the things, to literally having a laptop computer, the microphone that I'm talking into now, a tiny tray with some note cards and my planner. And that's it. And that kind of came from asking that question, what do I need to do? Well, I need to be able to lead workshops, go on podcasts, write my books, answer emails. And when I really thought through all the things I had to do, I realised the things that I needed could fit in one box. And so I think just starting with that, and figuring out and maybe even making a list of what are my essentials, what are the things that I can't do my job without. And so then once you have that list, even just that clarity might be eye opening, for people to realise how little they actually need to conduct business.

 

Shira Gill  27:35

And then spending a little time to edit down, to whittle down, to relocate the things that don't belong in your workspace, I think, you know, most workspaces have, you know, dirty coffee mugs and, you know, kid toys and dog toys, and yeah, all the things, you know, Guilty as charged! And so I think even just spending five minutes to kind of reset your space and put back the things that don't belong, goes a long way. And then another tip, you know, my husband had always worked in an office and then during the pandemic, you know, suddenly was home and bringing his things and we're in a relatively small house and his stuff was floating all over and it was making me mad. And so I just invented a work from home bin. And so as simple as like having a bin or a basket, any vessel that you like, we're at the end of the day, you can put away all of your work supplies and tuck them away. Even if you have an office, having a place where everything can kind of be shut down and stowed, I think mentally makes such a massive difference.

 

Shira Gill  28:46

So I have like one little shelf where I stow, you know, my laptop and all of my electronic gear and my note cards that I've used in my planner so that then at the end of the day when I sit down to dinner, I don't feel like I'm still drowning in work. It's like we've moved on to the dinner family portion of the day. So thinking through basically what do I need? What are the essentials? Where can I put them at the end of the day? and making it as simple as possible. The less stuff that you have, the less stuff you have to manage. So I'm always in favour of just whittle down to the bare bones essentials and then make one easy place to stow the things that you do use.

 

Meaghan Smith  29:36

Okay, you're kind of blowing my mind with your organisational genius. I can't believe that you do this from the kitchen table and you're - listen, if this is your first introduction to Shira and after this podcast you go and check her out, you look at her Instagram and you look at her website and you see her beautiful book, your mind is going to be blown when you hear that she creates this whole business from her dining room table like just unbelievable, Shira!

 

Shira Gill  30:06

It's not so glamorous! It is, I have to say it was very liberating to realise, because I thought when I had to give up my office, like, it's all over. And really realising that everything that I need to run this business can fit in a tiny little bin in my cabinet was like, how cool is that, that I could do it from anywhere, I could pack it up and work from somewhere else in the world. Just another example, I guess, of minimalism, leading to this tremendous freedom.

 

Meaghan Smith  30:40

Yeah, I love that. I've done this actually, for my partner who plays the guitar, every night he plays the guitar at the kitchen table. And every morning, I would wake up to picks and his music book, everything all over the table still. And so finally I created a little shelf that is near our dining room table that it's like, I don't care how messy that shelf is. But when you finished playing your guitar, put your music books and your picks and your, I don't even know what it's called, but whatever you use to tune the guitar, all that stuff, put it away in this little cube. So actually, I'm relating to what you're saying. But I think I need to just widen back a bit with my thinking to imagine that I could do that with my whole office. I'm not there yet. But I feel inspired, sure. I feel like there's hope for me yet.

 

Shira Gill  31:30

To be clear, I'm not saying that you or anybody else has to whittle down to a single box or tray if you don't want to, if you have an office, like, spread out, enjoy the space, I'm just saying, it does feel incredible to kind of realise how little you actually do need to run a business or show up in your career. Typically, for most people, they're just shocked at how little it actually is that they do need to own.

 

Meaghan Smith  31:58

Alright, we're gonna do a little bit of, okay, we're gonna put this to the test now. So what about papers, filing stuff, all those little letters we get and things that you need to take care of, that you do have to hang on to, what - How do we manage those?

 

Shira Gill  32:17

Yeah. So well, I basically classify all paper into five different buckets. So number one is action items. So anything that requires your attention from the mail that comes in, bills, invitations. And so my number one paper tip is just, and this sounds so simple, but you'd be shocked at how few people have this set up is: one place for anything that you have to attend to. So I call it like an action box or an inbox. And so I have a big open basket that kind of sits in my entry. Everyone in the family knows anything that needs my attention just gets tossed in that basket. I review it once a week on Sunday, I neglect it all week long. So it's very little maintenance. But I know any piece of paper that I need to deal with is in this one place. So just setting that up is such a game changer because most people have paper floating all over their house, you know, on their dining room table, on the kitchen counter, in the mailbox, by the bedside table. And so my number one thing, if you do nothing else, take all of the random floating pieces of paper and put them in one vessel. So that's number one.

 

Shira Gill  33:37

Then from there, when you have this pile of papers that need to be reviewed, these are the things that can happen with them. Number one, they can be filed. If you've dealt with them, it's done, but you do need to keep it, file it. I like to have the most simple filing system imaginable. So I do big broad categories. I just have a little file box. And I think it literally has like maybe 10 categories. So because I think, who likes filing? Like I'm not, most people do not enjoy filing paper. And I think we can get into trouble when we try to over organise and alphabetize and colour code and then there's too many barriers to entry.

 

Shira Gill  34:06

So those are the five things basically. Action, I've got to deal with it. Filing, I might need to reference it. Archiving, I will seldom need to reference it, and then It's done, shred or recycle. That's it. And it's pretty basic. And so when I have clients who feel completely overwhelmed by paper clutter, I literally just gather it all up into one giant mountain. And then we just do what they can handle in terms of processing it. And sometimes that's 15 minutes at a time, just let's just sit here, deal with what we can deal with set a timer, file some things, shred some things, call it a day. But that's my system. And I can tell you it works. And it's very simple. And I think it works because it is so simple. It's just have one place for the things and then take time to process it, if you can, once a week, that's a good low bar. I think once you get down to a manageable place, just once a week. For me I do it on a Sunday because then I start my week on Monday feeling like things are under control.

 

Shira Gill  34:23

So my filing system literally says business, home, car, kids, like I make it so I can just plop in and I just plop in the most recent thing in the front. That's it. So that's my entire filing system. And then archiving is the other system. So basically, I distinguish filing as anything you might need to reference. Archiving is it's done, it's been processed, you're probably never going to need to look at it again. But you do want to keep it, whether it's tax statements or financials from your house. Or even sentimental items. So having one place in my house, that's down in our basement, I have like a few weatherproof bins where I put those things. So they're out of my living space, out of the way, but they're safe. And then the last thing is if you go through the papers, and you realise I just don't need this, it either can be recycled, or if it's sensitive information, it can be shredded.

 

Meaghan Smith  36:33

I went through a lot of different emotions when you were just telling me that. First of all, I feel really called out, like have you been to my house?

 

Shira Gill  36:43

I'm watching you.

 

Meaghan Smith  36:46

Actually, I'm fairly good. But I've got to say there are some papers at the front door and attached to the fridge and in my office and maybe some in the bedroom. We'll leave it at that. But I'm also very relieved to hear that you have tubs stored away of stuff because that's always the thing that I think has been a conundrum for me that there's certain ugly things that we just need to hold on to like, you know, I have leases for my homes and paperwork, you know, just all sorts of paperwork that you need, you have to put somewhere, but what do we do with it? But I I feel very relieved to know that yes, the goddess of organisation Shira Gill also has those things in her life, in her basement. Because sometimes I think of you as this mythical creature who is able to, just organises her life, guys, seriously, when you check Shira out, you'll know what I'm talking about when you just see how beautiful everything is. Because remember, Shira last time when you were on the show, I asked you is your house really like it is in the pictures? And you told me, Yes, Meaghan it is. And that kind of just shook my world a little bit. But I love it.

 

Shira Gill  38:07

I know. But I'm not inviting anybody into my basement. I will say it is quite organised. But it is not pretty. It's not made for Instagram, but it is you know, you've gotta, it's real life, right? So we all have those things that are not pretty, the stacks of paper, the file documents, but as long as they have a contained place to live. And we have very little storage space, we have two tiny closets in our whole home. So there's just nowhere for things to hide. Aside from this little postage size basement that has my ugly stack of bins. They do exist though.

 

Meaghan Smith  38:46

Alright. Well listen, to wrap this up. Normally I ask my guests a question about how they handle money but we've talked about this before on the show, so I thought it would be really great to tell us a little bit, give us a little bit more of a spiel on your book that's coming out because I want everyone to know about that but also Shira, I know that you've got a second book coming out because you've talked about that in your email that I get so can you - What's that? What's that book? And I mean your first book's not even out and you're already working on a second one so just tell us all, tell us everything. Let's finish up with just all the news on books and Shira Gill.

 

Shira Gill  39:24

I love it. Yeah, so I, so my first book, Minimalista, contains my entire process and toolkit to help you edit, organise and elevate your home, your wardrobe and your life. So that book is really me downloading my brain from my entire career. And really I put everything in this book, I really wanted it to be a comprehensive guide for people where it even hits on things like what to keep when somebody dies, you know, because that's something I've been through, how to deal with kid clutter, how to set up a functional entryway, how to set up a capsule wardrobe. So I really just touched on all of the things. And then when I was done writing the book, I had another idea.

 

Shira Gill  40:11

And so my second book is basically me touring the globe and interviewing other organisers and giving the reader a peek into their organised lives and homes with all the tips and tricks and hacks. And so I have just started producing that book. But I'm super excited about it. And I have incredible organisers on board to be featured. And so that really just came from, you know, I'm an organiser. So obviously I know other organisers. And every time I went to one of my colleagues' homes, I would come home with like a tip or hack or this brilliant idea that I wanted to steal. And I just thought, Well, nobody really knows 25 organisers, like that's a very niche, strange profession. And so I just thought, What a cool thing to kind of bring this to the masses and share all of these homes and all of these tips and all of these hacks. So that book will be like a beautiful coffee table book filled with house tours, tips and hacks from all over the globe.

 

Meaghan Smith  41:21

I can't wait. I can't wait. I just, yes, I love it. I love it all. Alright, well, Shira, thank you so much for coming on the show again. I'm really I cannot wait to get my hands on your book. It's on the way I know. And when when I've got it, I'll be showing everybody and also the second book, who knows when, books take ages don't they, we're not going to see it for a long time.

 

Shira Gill  41:46

That one's 2023 so we've got a bit of time.

 

Meaghan Smith  41:51

We've got something to look forward to.

 

Shira Gill  41:53

Yes, yes. And hopefully the world will be in better shape by then.

 

Meaghan Smith  41:57

Yes. Oh my gosh, let's not talk about it.

 

Shira Gill  42:02

It's not a good note to end on.

 

Meaghan Smith  42:05

Oh my goodness. Well, thank you again, thank you very much for being here on the show.

 

Shira Gill  42:11

Thank you so much for having me. I love your work and your podcast and it was just a pleasure to chat with you.

 

Meaghan Smith  42:16

Oh, you're so welcome. Oh my goodness. Shira is amazing. Everyone should go out and buy her book immediately. Shira is actually trained at the same school as me so not only is she amazing at organisation, she's also a mindset ninja too. And her book encapsulates that, I think that's why it's such an amazing book. So if you are loving what you're learning on the Money Mindful podcast and want to work with me, yay, I love helping women uncover and unblock their limiting beliefs around money and success. I think to have money and success and a life that you love, and love yourself in, requires a positive relationship with money, success and yourself. If you want a life that's designed by you, for you, a life doing what you love, making the money that you want to make and loving yourself all the way through it, I can help you with that. You can find out more by booking a consultation on my website. The consultation is a fun chat where I help you identify what is getting in the way and a plan to get you what you want. So my friends until next time, have a beautiful week. Bye Bye.