10 Minutes to a Tidy Home

Ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in a day to get all those pesky chores done? Like you need an entire day (or more!) to finally get your house in order? Although the thought of having a large chunk of time to declutter, clean and get organized sounds great, it’s not realistic for most of us. 

There are so many factors that can get in the way, like a house full of kids to take care of, meals to prepare, a job to go to. And let’s not forget taking time for self-care.

Having a cleaning schedule can help in keeping up with the day-to-day cleaning, but what about all the decluttering you’ve been meaning to do? Once you get your regular to-dos done, it can sometimes be a challenge to find the time, or the energy, to do all the extras that have been on your list.

But don’t despair, because you can totally do this! All you need to do is begin creating a 10-minute tidy habit.

What is a 10-minute tidy habit?

It’s simple. All you need to do is take 10 minutes (yes, just 10 minutes!) a day to declutter or tidy a space in your home. You may think that this doesn’t seem like much time, but trust me when I say that you will notice a difference over time. 

You're busy and probably don’t have large blocks of time to dedicate to decluttering your home. But I bet it’s something that is in the back of your mind and that you're reminded of every time you trip over a toy or look through your closet full of clothes you no longer wear.

Now with this new habit in mind, you might want to have a plan of attack to tackle all of the decluttering you want to do in your home. Below is a list to help you get some ideas of where and what to spend those 10 minutes of tidying up on. 

Take a look at this list and each day, pick something you want to work at. You don’t have to do it in any specific order or do a particular one all at once. Simply set your timer for 10 minutes and GO!

Kitchen

• Stove drawer
• Utensil drawer
• Junk drawer
• Space under the sink
• All cupboards - Take just one cupboard at a time, empty it out and put back only what you want or need to keep. If you’re unsure about something, keep it in a box for now and revisit it later.
• Recipe books - Sort through all your recipe books and get rid of those you know you’ll never use. If some only have a recipe or two you like, consider just making copies of those recipes and getting rid of the book.

Living Room

• Entertainment center
• DVD collection - Get rid of any movies you know you don’t like or won’t ever watch again.
• Bookcases - Get rid of books you no longer enjoy and purge your bookcases of any trinkets that don’t make you feel happy.
• Coffee + end tables - Keep these free of unnecessary clutter so you have room to put that drink when you sit down to relax!
• Toys - Declare your living room a toy-free zone. Return any toys to the appropriate kid’s bedroom or the playroom.

Kids’ rooms

• Toys - I’m willing to bet that your kids have toys stashed at the back of their closet that they never play with. Consider having a simple toy chest or bins in a corner of their room to store their toys and keep only what they truly love to play with. This helps create more floor space to actually play on.
• Stuffed animals - These can easily pile up and can be hard to part with for some kids. Consider getting a teddy bear hammock to store them in.
• Closet - Get rid of clothes that no longer fit and use baskets to keep things like underwear and socks.
• Desk - Having a study space is great, but if that space is cluttered, it definitely makes homework time more difficult and much less productive. Help your child clear off that space and keep there only what they would need, such as pens, notepads and reference books.

Master bedroom

• Closet - Go through your closet a couple of times a year and get rid of what no longer fits or what you don’t like anymore. If you find it difficult to let go of certain items, consider storing them in bins to revisit later.
• Dresser - Same goes for your dresser. It’s easy for things to get lost at the bottom of drawers and I’m willing to bet there are things that you forgot you had!
• Bedside tables - These can get cluttered with books, journals, beauty products, and a variety of random things. Consider keeping absolute necessities here and find new homes for everything else.

Bathrooms

• Medicine cabinet - Get rid of outdated medicine and makeup and make sure you have on hand any medicine or first aid supplies you might need.
• Storage closet - Your bathroom storage closet is a good place to keep only what you would need while in your bathroom, like extra paper products, towels + washcloths, and shower products. 

Laundry room

The laundry room, aka the household dumping ground (at least for me!), can easily get overwhelming with stuff. Sort cleaning and other supplies in bins to make things easily accessible. 

Entryway closet

It’s so easy for things to accumulate here. Coats, boots, scarves, bags. The list is endless! Consider having baskets for winter gear like hats, mitts, and scarves and keep them on the top shelf. Keeping these items there will save you from having to store them in the off-season. Also, consider having a shoe rack in the closet to keep shoes and boots out of the way when you don’t need them.

Furnace room/storage closets

• Holiday decorations - After a holiday has passed, like Halloween or Christmas, take this time to purge any of the decorations you no longer like or use. Make sure that whatever goes back into storage when you’re done is only those things that you absolutely love.

Now what?

Now that you’re done purging, what do you do with all the stuff you’ve gathered? Well, you can choose to have a yard sale, if you’re up for all the work that goes with it. But this might be a great opportunity for the kids to make a few extra dollars. Just let them do all the work. 

You could also take it all to your local thrift store or shelter. Whatever you decide to do, make it a habit to keep your home as clutter-free as you can from here on in. You’ll find that these purging sessions will become less work and you’ll enjoy your home so much more.

Now sit back and enjoy all the hard work you’ve put into making your home cozy again with only 10 minutes a day!

What area will you tackle first? Please share in the comments or email me at [email protected]!

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