Five Minutes at a Time

In the spirit of getting it done, I wanted to share what I have been doing as of late when I am feeling stressed by my house!

You guys know I love my timer - I have talked about how we can use very short increments of time to get alot done.

One thing I have done lately is refine the use of those short increments. I also have been sucking every second out of those 15-30 minutes stretches that happen on occasion!

One key to using those little short stints well, is knowing what is causing the most stress when they become available. My mental or written Stress List helps that. When I have a free 5 minutes, I think to that list and what is causing me the most stress that I can work on getting done in the time I have.

One way I have applied that to myself lately, is that I realize I have a few minutes ...big boys are playing quietly in their bedroom AND baby is asleep, I have 20 minutes or so! I considered what is stressing me the most right now ..and hands down it was my house. Everything was cluttered, bathrooms needed cleaned, laundry put away...all of it. So, I set my timer for 5 minutes, my mindset on perfection not being necessary, grabbed my lysol wipes and a broom and got to work!

Twenty minutes later I had decluttered and swept the upstairs hallway, wiped down the boys bathroom, decluttered my bedroom and started working on the laundry.  None of those areas were done to perfection, but I was trying to remind myself to think of it as "5 minutes more done" rather than half-way completed :)

Miraculously, all was still quiet and I had another 20 minutes to work on stuff ...the entry way, more laundry, the dining room table and my bathroom.  I was sweating when it was all said and done but I felt a million times better.

Your house may not be at the top of your Stress List ...it may be paying bills or making a phone call, it may be running an errand or fillling in the holes in the walls in the hallway. Whatever is stressing you out, try to put 5 minutes towards getting it taken care of. It will help..I promise!

Anyone got any ta-da's to share? What did you get done today?!