Tidying up doesn’t have to be an overwhelming chore. Here’s how a professional organizer makes the not-so-desirable tasks easy to get done.

When you picture your home, it’s probably not too difficult to imagine the hidden pockets of cluttered corners and closets (a.k.a., the spots you wish would just clean themselves). For Shira Gill, professional organizer and author of three home organization books, these are the best places to start new cleaning habits.

Gill is best known for her “15-minute win” productivity hack, where you challenge yourself to focus on one task for 15 minutes with no distractions. “As a result, people have tackled their junk drawers, cleaned out their refrigerators, and gotten started on clearing a closet or pantry,” she says. “It’s a way of getting out of overwhelm and into action.” 

This is the basis of Gill’s entire philosophy—sharing practical and workable tips that even the busiest person can implement into their daily life. In her new book, “Life Styled,” she takes this a step further by introducing a concept that can turn deprioritized tasks like organizing your mail or cleaning out your nightstand into a daily habit.

“It’s about making space in your schedule for things that often get lost in the shuffle,” she says. Here’s how her “Call Your Mother” method works.
 

What Is The “Call Your Mother” Organizing Method?

This simple hack started with a client who wished she was spending more time with her mom. Gill’s solution? Schedule it.

“The idea is to clarify the things you wished you prioritized and how you can plan to integrate that into your life so that it’s baked in,” she explains. 

By setting up a weekly call with her mother, Gill’s client was able to focus on that task without worrying about forgetting it. Scheduling tasks the way you would book a dentist appointment, for example, ensures that the things you want to do don’t get put on the back-burner.

Gill suggests using this method for the joyful things in life, like having a set time to catch up with a friend every month, as well as the more mundane, such as tidying up your kids’ playroom.
 

How To Declutter Your Home — Then Keep It That Way

Once you’ve started applying the “Call Your Mother” method to your home, Gill’s number one piece of advice is to reduce and control the clutter in your space.

“The biggest challenge for people is volume,” says Gill. “It’s not the act of organizing, it’s more ‘I need less stuff to manage.’”

This could be a seasonal closet clean-out, a pantry purge, or going through old makeup. By isolating your focus to one specific part of your home — which can be as small as clearing out your everyday bag or junk drawer — you’re not only able to dive deep into its organization, but it’ll encourage you to keep going.

“You’ll feel momentum that will propel you forward to keep going onto the next small space,” says Gill. “Never do more than one room at a time; think of that room as a hundred tiny projects.”  

Pencilling in time to complete these tasks has the added bonus of creating smaller micro-habits that can transform your daily life. 

“Those little efforts compound, so you’re never facing a massive overwhelming clean-up,” she says. “With these tiny wins and daily tidying, you’ll never feel like you need to take two weeks off of work to organize.”

Recommended

Yes, You Have Junk Blindness—Here's How To Fix It

By: Sara Romano

Living in a home for a while—be it a house or a rental apartment—is all about settling in and making it your own. But what happens when you get a little too comfortable with the mess?
 

Read More

Recommended

The Best Planners For 2025

By: Canadian Living

The new year means it's time to swap out your trusty paper planner for a fresh one!

Read More