One excuse we often use for not getting things done at home is “I don’t have time.” Many of our readers have heard me tell of the 5 minute rule I started using years ago when I first got sick.
I was too weak to do much but I found that, if I made myself get up during the 5 minute TV commercial, do what I could in that 5 minutes and then rest, I got an amazing amount of things done.
Here’s a list to help you start making those little 5 minute blocks of time more productive:
5 Minute Quick Clean-Up In The Kitchen
- Clean out the silverware drawer.
- Put the dishes in the dishwasher.
- Dry the dishes.
- Set the table.
- Clean off one shelf in the fridge.
- Clean off one shelf in the pantry.
- Sort through one shelf in the cabinets.
- Sweep the floor.
- Wash a window or glass door.
- Wipe down all the back splashes.
- Clean under the kitchen sink.
- Wipe down the outside of the kitchen cabinets.
- Wash a few knick knacks.
- Wipe down the outsides of appliances.
Using this list as an example, make a cleaning list for other rooms in your home. Keep it handy. Then, when you have a couple of minutes, pick something off of your list and do it.
Photo By: Nancy Hugo, CKD
I’ve been doing this since I first read it here and it sure does make a difference in keeping apartment picked up.
i have 2 chuckle…..more often than not i see writings of “Putting the dishes in the dishwasher.” i DON’T have a dishwasher~i sure wish i did. i haven’t been feeling well n my dishes have kinda piled up so when i get a wee surge of energy i’m gonna see how many 5 minute block it will take me 2 do them. lolol. most of my time’s taken up by my dogs n cats n taking care of my partner who has congestive heart failure n kidney failure…
thanx for this wee bit of info, tho….
dru
I don’t have a dishwasher either and my spouse has cancer and I am still recovering from chemo (we r still newlyweds). So I get it! I try to do too many things at once. Instead of managable lists of chores, I see hundreds of projects that appear to be UNmanagable. I wish some women relatives lived nearby – I think they could give me good household hints. Best wishes to you and your husband. Sending healing thoughts. That is a lot to go through.
Gayle just a hint to hopeful make you feel a little better. I had for years always made my bed, cleaned the kitchen each morning, kept up the laundry and meals regular on the table but then I got sick with CFS. For the first 1-2 years most days I couldn’t get out of bed to use the bathroom or feed myself let alone do anything else. My kids were sick too at that time. It was hard. I remember looking around at the piles of everything in the house that needed to be done and would literally cry because I had no one to help.I had to keep reminding myself this is not normal and it was out of my control. I had to face the fact that sometimes I had to wear the same nightgown or not take a shower for 2 weeks because I was to weak to do either of those things and had no one to help me. I once got into the shower and got so weak I couldn’t turn the shower off or get out of the tub. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I couldn’t move and I was all by myself.It was bad.
Anyway I’m not telling you all this because I want a pity party but just so you know I do understand how hard it can be but one thing I finally did is accept the fact this was the way it was going to have to be for this time in my life. It felt so good when I released the pressure I put on myself to try and get things done. The odd thing was when I allowed myself to not worry about the mess around me I started feeling slightly better and that is when I developed my 5 min. cleaning plan and started getting more done.
You have got your hands full major time just do only what you need to and let the rest go. Oh it was at that time too I didn’t give saving the environment or planet a second thought and started using paper plates, paper bowls and things like that. I had more important things on my plate at the moment like saving myself and my family. Make things as easy for yourself as you can.
I so hope you and your husband start doing better.
[...] Five minutes in the kitchen. [...]
Yes! I do this too. I find that if I break tasks down into itty bitty parts, I am more likely to begin on a cleaning/organizing, and I get a whole lot done.
Right now, it’s my kitchen desk. I’ve been tackling it one small bit at a time. This not only makes the work more palatable, but I’m taking the time to set up some organization, so that it will stay tidy in the future.
Good reminder to do this in other rooms!
Last night I was watching a movie and didn’t want to miss anything but it was so hot I didn’t dare leave the leftovers out of the fridge for very long. At every commercial, I was running to the kitchen to put things away and load the dishwasher (first I had to unload from the morning wash). It didn’t take too many commercials for the kitchen to be cleaned up. Plus it’s good for the figure to be running back and forth.
Five minutes is really a lot of time. I am surprised how much I can get done in 5 minutes. Set the timer and don’t stop until the 5 minutes is done and see what you can accomplish.
Never thought about it being good for the figure but so true. : )
Maggie, I do this as well, except that I have to run up and down stairs, unless I’m working upstairs. LOL! On Saturdays I love watching America’s Test Kitchen in our bedroom, and I usually have laundry to fold or iron and the bed to make and the floor to swiffer while I’m watching TV. But it’s so true that if you use even a few minutes here and there to pick things up you can actually keep your home pretty tidy.
You are so right it doesn’t take that long to keep up with things. I think we often spend more time telling ourselves “I really need to get this done” then spend 5-10 listing excuses why we can’t or don’t feel like doing it now when we could have had the thing done in the amount of time it took talking ourselves out of doing it.
great ideas!
I have learned long ago if I do a little & rest & repeat. At the end of the day I have a lot more done. While resting I can think. I’m not running in circles wearing myself out.
Well I DVR most of my shows so I usually just skip past the commercials. Guess I’ll have to make an effort to do both! Leave the commercial going and just run and start cleaning. Right now my kitchen island needs some major cleaning. Great idea!
I was doing this for a while, and then we got a new T.V. service, and we have set it up to tape our favorite shows.
My husband fast-forwards through the commercials, so my
“five minutes-es” are gone! So I do the five minute thing at any other time of the day that I possibly can.
Thank you for all of your suggestions!!!
This is a terrific idea. I especially like how tasks were broken down into small chunks.
I tend to have gazillions of projects going at once and get sidetracked in the middle of a small cleaning project with something that turns into a big deal (such as cleaning out all the cabinets, re-washing dishes, polishing flatware – no it isn’t silver – or washing all the shelves, or cleaning the oven) when in the midst of smaller tasks such as washing the dishes. Then there are three or four BIG cleaning projects half way done among smaller ones.
don’t laugh! it’s just a different way of thinking.
Having a list of specific items to tackle in a short time period is VERY HELPFUL. I am posting this on my fridge!
Thank you. Gayle.
I’m not laughing at all Gayle. I really wasn’t born organized or even have that gene in me like some do. I had to learn it the hard way like you starting a million and one big projects – getting overwhelmed or side tracked and then not getting anything done. I spent years studying and trying different methods to finally get something that worked for me.
Jill, You are so right about thinking about/dreading doing something takes more time than actually doing it. I took your advice and timed myself emptying the dishwasher when it was totally filled. No more than 10 minutes. Yet I will put off emptying it for hours because “it takes so long”. I was telling a friend earlier today that I hate dusting, then I was going to tell you I hate emptying the dishwasher. Well, I think I just don’t like cleaning at all but since it has to be done, I just time myself for 5 to 10 minutes and am amazed that I can finish the task and still have minutes left on the timer. Procrastinating only makes us feel worse and wish we had done it immediately. We would have had those extra minutes for something fun. I’m trying to Just Do It but it is hard. I do like your 5 minutes at a time suggestion.
It is like other habits Maggie, the more you do them the easier it is to do. I don’t like cleaning that much myself but I like a clean house so until I make my first million or marry a millionaire I have to do it.
I don’t even have my kids to help out now. : ) Anyway I have to still force myself to do things. I was standing just yesterday waiting for something to cook looking at a handful of dishes in the sink thinking – I could get these done while I am waiting or maybe I’ll just wait until later when I have more – I’m too tired now- and on went the debate.
One thing I do that helps is I will pick a day – usually Sunday- and I don’t worry about anything and allow myself to put any and everything off that I can with out feeling guilty about doing it. It is like having a mini vacation at home.
Sunday is my decompression day, too. I try not to do much – maybe a load of laundry or cook something that we can have later in the week – green beans or squash – that takes longer to cook than an evening. I read the paper, perhaps read a book and just relax. Monday is trash day so I do get the papers and trash together, too.
My best relaxing time in the evening is while dinner is cooking, I set the timer for 5 or 10 minutes, sit in the kitchen or on the porch and read and drink a glass of iced tea. It’s amazing how much better I feel. Dinner is nearly ready and I have gotten into the “home” mentality in place of work. Washes away the stresses of the day.
I like to take 5 mins to gather the dishes, 5 mins to run water and rinse out any yucky stuff, 10-15 mins to soak, 10 mins to wash, and abotu 5 mins to rinse. (No dishwasher here either!)
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[...] Stop putting off doing things because you think it will take you too long. If your house is an average uncluttered house in reasonable condition, it really doesn’t take … [...]
[...] Time yourself. Stop putting off doing things because you think it will take you too long. If your house is an average uncluttered house in reasonable condition, it really doesn’t take that long to do most cleaning and organizing tasks. [...]