A Clean House in 15 Minutes a Day

Ok so the title of this post might be ever so slightly misleading, but seriously, I have discovered my secret weapon to combatting the day to day messiness of a house with one toddler and a violently shedding dog and it seriously takes only 15 minutes a day!!!  So I thought I would share this little golden nugget of information with you :).

I think really good housekeepers and productive people in general all have one thing in common: they are good at setting aside chunks of time to combat a problem and then they attack that problem in the allotted time, doing as much as they can and then feeling satisfied with their achievement even if everything is not 100% completed. 

With this understanding in mind, I bought myself a $2.00 timer from Walmart and made myself a goal.  Each day, when Lily goes down for her nap, I set the timer for 15 minutes and then focus on doing as much cleaning as possible before the timer goes off.  I usually focus on one primary area, whichever one I feel needs the most attention on that day, as well as doing at least a few minutes of vacuuming, as vacuuming is something that must be done every single day in my house in order to keep the crumbs and dog fur within reason! 

My 'focus' area is usually one of the places in my home that, if left alone, would spread until it took over the entire room.  For example, the chair in my bedroom that seems to always be piled high with previously worn outfits, my sewing area (set up for now in my living room), or the kitchen table that always collects unopened mail, dog leashes, and everything else that I set down as soon as I walk in the door.  Everyone has these  places in their home.  For my sister, Deanna, it's her living room sofa that's always buried under a mountain of laundry.  For another sister, Susanna, it's the chaise lounge in her living room.  I hope my sisters don't mind me telling on them, but my point is that these 'hot spots' if you will are not anything unique to my household.  Rather, they lurk in every home I know, and the only way to combat them is to spend a few minutes each day working on them.

You would be amazed to discover what you can achieve in just 15 minutes.  In 15 minutes I can vacuum at least two rooms in my home, tidy away toys and other items left out of place, organize the shelves in my den and sweep my patio.  Every day my fifteen minutes is a bit different, depending on what needs the most attention.  When the timer goes off I finish whatever task I'm in the middle of and then stop cleaning to spend the rest of Lily's nap time doing whatever else I need to do (e.g. bills or correspondance), or just relaxing if I need some down time. 

Some key strategies to get the most out of your 15 minutes of cleaning:

• Eliminate distractions (i.e. do it while the kiddos are napping)
• Have an idea of what you're going to tackle before you begin
• Focus on one area/room at a time and finish that before moving on
• When the timer goes off, finish what you're doing as quickly as possible and then consider yourself 'done'
• Reward yourself after your 15 minutes in some way (e.g. spend a few minutes browsing a magazine, have a nice cup of hot cocoa, or sit and put your feet up or hop on your favorite blog)

Of course your house is not going to be immaculately clean in only 15 minutes a day, but I guarantee it's going to be a lot cleaner then if you spend no time dedicated to cleaning each day.  And of course this 15 minutes a day is in addition to the time we all spend maintaining our homes such as tidying the kitchen after meals, putting things back in their place after each use, etc.  So really, if you asked how long I spend cleaning each day the numbers would be much higher, but the "15 minutes a day clean house" refers to the dedicated 15 minutes of cleaning that goes above and beyond what is absolutely required each day.

I hope you find this tip as useful as I have found it and I'd love to hear your comments and your tips for fighting filth :).  Happy housekeeping and, oh yes, happy halloween, my friends :).