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?!

Two Minutes Could Save You ...

 I love organization! 

It makes me giddy to experience order, especially in my own home. Because of that, I get really frustrated when I cant achieve some level of order in my home. Just having had a baby 6 weeks ago, I am feeling that urge to order and reorder the world of crazy chaos around me :) ..three boys under 6 will do that to a gal.

I keep hearing one of my favorite order mentor, FlyLady saying ..."anyone can find 15 minutes in a day."  Now, not to disagree with her (like I said, I love her concepts and use them regularly) but 15 minutes all at one time is often IMPOSSIBLE to find in my crazy days. 

Part of the problem is if I do get 15 minutes at one time when I am not needed by a new baby, a potty training toddler, a learning to read 5 year old,  a wonderful daddy, a busy household ..I have 1000000 things to get done in that 15 minutes.

I have learned to settle for asking less (much less) of myself, and trying not to let that idea that "anyone can find 15 minutes" throw me off.  Somedays, 2 minutes to accomplish anything is all I have. 

But, I am working on a mental list of things to do that I can get done in 5 or less minutes ..here is what I have come up with so far ...

*Make my bed ..JUST make my bed, not put clothes away or dust the dresser, JUST make the bed

*Switch the laundry 

*Fold some of the laundry ..maybe not all, but if I knock out half then its that much less that I have to do later

* Fill the dishwasher ..again, maybe not all but its okay

* Swish the toilet bowl

* Wipe off the bathroom sink

* Take the stuff on the stairs upstairs, or downstairs depending on where it goes

* Take the meat out for dinner

* Consider dinner 

* Clip this week's coupons ..not all, perhaps ..

Having a few things in mind before hand,  I can get straight to it in that quiet time between putting the kids in the bath and them start yelling about their sibling splashing them, or while the baby is happy between feedings and needing a nap, or that wonderful first 5 minutes that a cartoon is keeping their attention.

Short spurts of time can make a big difference if I have a plan, AND be okay with not getting something completed. Sometimes, it may take several short little productive bursts to complete that load of laundry but when its done, YAY! 

Can you think of some other 5 minutes jobs you can do?...do share!