Wednesday, April 9, 2008

A little at a time... 15 mins.




If you have 15 minutes to spare (and well, who doesn't?), you change make small changes that will eventually mean big results in your house. Taking 15 minutes each day to tackle areas in your home can help you become organized, hey, every little bit helps. If you're like me, you work 40 hours a week and are tired when you get home. You want to get some dinner and relax for a minute before you head to bed. What can you do in 15 minutes?
  • Make your bed. Seriously, it's amazing what making a bed will do. Make this a habit, everyday the person who is the last to get out of bed is the one who has to make it. Once this becomes a daily habit, it is much easier to keep your Master bedroom clean. Try it for a week and see the difference. This is such a small task (it should take 3 minutes MAX) and will make such an impact on your bedroom.


  • Clean out the medicine cabinet. Go through and get rid of expired medicines, you may think that they're still good, they're not. They lose their potency after time and so you'd be stuck with taking double or triple the dose, and that's not cool nor is it safe. Take expired prescription meds to a pharmacist, don't throw them away and do not flush them down the toliet = bad for the environment. Get rid of lotions and shampoos from hotels, especially if they're over a year old. Ick. They're just clutter, if you haven't used them you're not going to. And don't tell me you're saving them for guests, I think they'll be fine using your regular shampoos and conditioners! A good idea for those old shampoo bottles--donate them to a local shelter if they're still good! A lot of shelters need basics like soap, shampoo, conditioner, etc. Better to donate them where they can get some use than to a landfill!


  • Go through your nail polish. I have a separate nail polish container where I keep my nail polish, cotton balls, finger nail files, and polish remover. Keep whatever colors you use on a regular basis and dump anything that's over a year old. It gets too clumpy anyway and you'll be frustrated gooping it on. Limit your nail polish to five colors. You really don't need anymore than that anyway! Keep the ones you love, donate the remainders to your friends.


  • Clean out the fridge. Chuck any questionable leftovers, moldy food items, and condiments that have been neglected. Do a quick wipe down with some environmentally foodsafe cleanser (baking soda and vinegar help get rid of sticky messes!) and you'll be surprised at how much room you actually have. Now you'll be able to see what food you have and you'll be more likely to eat it. Oh, and for you non-vegetarians, PLEASE keep your raw meat on the bottom shelf. It is more likely to drip juices and transfer potential icky bacteria to other foods if you keep it on the top shelf.


  • Organize your desk at work. Go through each drawer and get rid of multiples (do you really need 3 rolls of tape?). Your work supply closet should be stocked so you don't need to keep so many items in your desk, keep only what you need. Toss any pens that don't write smooth and get rid of dried-up highlighters. A clean desk equals time that you don't have to spend digging for items and it really will help you work better, clutter that's hidden in your desk or ON your desk just creates mental fog. You'd be surprised once you clean out the knicknacks, crappy pens, and papers scattered everywhere, you'll be a lot happier and more productive.


  • At the end of the day, clean out your car. Get a grocery store plastic bag and clean out all the trash, straw wrappers, receipts, etc. Take inside any coats, books, extra shoes, or any other item that has no place in your car. If you have a clean backseat with no junk on the floor you will enjoy your car ride more. Also without all of that, you're probably have a less likely chance of getting your car broken into. With nothing to see, thieves have nothing to steal. Tip: Keep a few plastic bags in your car for instances such as these, this makes cleaning out your car very easy and takes but a few minutes.

I hope these tips help you get started! As I think of more, I will post them. I love to hear your ideas too! Please leave your comments, I love giving ideas as well as GETTING new ideas!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have another idea hill. How about those damn junk drawers? I know I have a couple of them, and I find that going through them at least once or twice a month helps with getting rid of clutter. We're all busy in life so when you are doing a quick clean up around the house we all just through the little odds and ends in the junk drawer. So at the end of the month there is all this stuff out of its place and stuff that really should go into the trash. Take two days out of the month and clean that drawer out!!! I know it always makes me feel good after I've done mine. Another thing is closets! I had so much crap in all my closets and I have 7 in my house. They are coat closets, linen closets, and bedroom closets. Masen and I went through them all and finally got all the holiday stuff put into the proper plastic tubs. Ya know, after a holiday you just kinda throw the stuff in the closet and go. Well, I got tired of looking at it and not being able to get into my closets so I organized them with alittle help from Masen that is!! I now have keepsakes tubs, clothing tubs for the boys clothes they can't fit yet, summer clothes, winter clothes, and holidays. The linen closet, get rid of all those old sheets and pillow cases that you don't use. All its doing is taking up space that you could use for something more useful. Donate all the old towels and sheets. That is something goodwill can always use if in good enough condition ya know. I just thought I'd throw out those ideas to you to write about. I know some of your ideas helped me so maybe these can help someone else out there reading these. Love ya, Amy

LL said...

Closets can usually take longer than 15 minutes; most people have a hard time deciding what clothes to keep, toss, donate, and a lot of individuals have more than just clothes in there. Attacking a closet can take sometimes half a day to a full day that's why I didn't put it up here, but going through a LINEN closet is a great idea. Pulling everything out, folding it, and making it need can take a quick 15 minutes, depending on the size.

LL said...

A lot of charities don't want sheets and towels that are really in poor condition. The best idea to do with those, instead of putting them in a landfill, would be donate them to an animal shelter where bedding and towels are ALWAYS needed.

LL said...

Junk drawers are a great idea! I can't believe I forgot those. Just empty the drawer onto a table or into a basket and toss, toss, toss! Loose receipts need to be filed or shredded, old pens, mints, etc. can be tossed as well. Only keep in there what you need, if you have an item that you don't know what it belongs to but it's been in there for over a year, TOSS IT.