15 minute marathon
When my apartment is OUT OF CONTROL messy, I like to do a 15 minute marathon. Let me explain.
Flylady has a whole list of things to do to save your house, 15 minutes at a time. I choose to do mine differently.
Basically, I set the timer for 15 minutes and go to town cleaning in one room. Then, when the timer goes off, I finish up the small task I was working on and move to another room, set the timer again, and start over. Does each room get the deep cleaning I ultimately want to give it? No. But it ends up WAY better than it started.
Today I’m doing my 15-minute marathon. And to inspire you, I’m tracking what I did in each 15 minutes.
Kitchen:
- cleaned out the fridge (threw out food I’m never going to eat)
- emptied the dish dryer
- washed all of the dishes beside the sink, filled the dishwasher
- started the dishwasher
- wiped down all of the counters with 409
Is it perfectly clean? No. Did I get to swiffer the floor? No. But is it better? Much!
Bathroom:
- put everything away… including medicine from when I was sick about a month ago.
- Wipe down counters and edges of the tub with a wet washcloth just to get the dust off.
- Cleaned the mirrors
- Refilled the soap dispenser
- Threw away old razors
- Decluttered hair things
- Swished the toilet
- Lysol-wiped the toilet seat and counters
Hmm… I didn’t get to swiffer this room either. Maybe after I do 15 minutes in each room, I’ll do another 15 to take out trash and swiffer.
Bedroom/Office area:
- Put dirty laundry in hamper
- Went through a stack of mail, threw out trash
- Filed bills and paystubs
- Decluttered purse contents
- Made bed nicely
- Put books away (they pile up on the nightstands… do yours?)
Whew, MUCH better! Maybe T (the man) will vacuum for me when he gets here.
Living room (Currently the craft area):
- When through another stack of mail (how does it sneak in??), threw out trash
- Decluttered some more items, including fabric scraps and some things from teaching this year
- Put away a bunch of shoes
- Made a stack of papers to go through later… not usually a good plan, but it’s Kosher during a 15-minute marathon!
- Some other general tidying-up
It’s no where near “done”… but it’s a vast improvement.
It’s 2:30 and my stomach is growling, so I’m taking a lunch break! The dining room is an extension of the craft area right now, so it can stay how it is…
After lunch, I’ll do a quick trash-can round-up and take out the trash, swiffer the kitchen and bathroom, and empty the dishwasher. The apartment feels SO much better.
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