I think one thing that separates the "cleanie" types from the "messy" types is the way they use their spare minutes. Messies tend to want to do their housework in BIG blocks of time while the Cleanies tend to do theirs for just a few minutes here and there all throughout the days.

The big problem with this concept is that big blocks of cleaning time don't present themselves very often. And in between the blocks of cleaning time, the house is deteriorating around you minute by minute.

On the other hand, little minutes are available all the time. You can slip in a quick tidy up when things are cooking in the microwave, while you're talking on the phone, while you're waiting for the kids to get dressed. You can tidy the bathroom while your young children are having their bath, or tidy up their room while they are getting dressed. When you start looking for these opportunities, you'll find them everywhere throughout your day.

You're probably thinking that you can't get much done in just a few minutes, but you would really be amazed! I've timed it and I can empty my dishwasher in three minutes, fold a load of laundry in five, and sweep my kitchen floor in ten.

Here is a good example of one of these quick time clean ups. This is my bathroom counter. It doesn't always look this bad, but I do find that "my" rooms tend to get a lot less attention than the more "public" areas of my house. Sad, but true...


Here is how it looked at the five minute mark. Looks a lot better, doesn't it?



Five minutes later, I had the rest of it done and look how great it looks. Ten minutes flat to a nice clean bathroom counter. Another couple of minutes to swish the toilet and sweep and mop the floor and voila! I had a completely clean bathroom.


That's a good way to accomplish a clean up in a very short period of time. However, an even better strategy would be to spend just one or two minutes every day to put my things away and give the counter and toilet a quick swipe. That's what the cleanie people do and Lord knows it's easy enough to do.

But if I do fall down on the job - again. At least I know I'm only 15 minutes from starting all over again.

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