Five-Minute-Cleaning

I read this somewhere - please forgive me if I don't credit the person! The wording is not my idea but when I read about it, I knew what they were talking about immediately. Because I do it all the time. I am a clean freak BUT only in the way of not even making the mess, instead of wanting to clean all the time. So I try to teach my kids that in being careful and watch what they do that they make lesser messes.... it works most of the time....

So obliviously I don't like cleaning, at least not for hours and hours. So this Five-Minute-Cleaning approach works for me. I mostly start when something bothers me, like our mail on the dining room table, or a messy bathroom. I clean just that one thing, in five minutes, give or take, of course, and I am done.

You think I am full of it? Try it out, it works. Five minutes here and five minutes there can add up to a lot of time cleaning! So now you want to know what one can do in five minutes when filling up the bucket for floor cleaning takes up already two of those five minutes? Well, we are talking about fast cleaning here, not deep cleaning! I can put a list together below....

But one other thing that makes it a nice tool: you do it when you have those five minutes, so one doesn't feel so overwhelmed at times. Like when you wait for a neighbor to show up, or you have five extra minutes before having to leave. It also works great when you have a sudden burst of energy that you don't have at night, after the kids are in bed.

Hey, it might not work for you, but I sure know that it works for me!
It does NOT replace the deep cleaning that has to be done once in a while! But just know that little messes can be cleaned up right away, so it doesn't become a big burden once it is a big mess! And I feel great about it for accomplishing small things when I wasn't in the mood for a huge project.

Here is a list:
- make all the beds in the house
- put the dishes in the dishwasher
- swipe the kitchen floor
- clean one toilet bowl, maybe including the sinks
- wipe a bookshelf
- clean the front window of the car
- quick clean your oven, inside and top
- vacuum one room in the house
etc

I think you get the idea! It is simple, and most of the time making things easier and less overwhelming, makes you happier and you feel you actually can do all the loads of things we have to do!