In an earlier post I mentioned Beth, who was the only one at the conference to know of my blog. What I didn’t mention is that Beth was there to present not one but two workshops. The first one she did was called Organizing a Family. Beth did a terrific job of offering plenty of practical suggestions for keeping a family organized. If you ask Beth where to start she’ll tell you to attack the area in your home that bothers you the most and start with the surfaces. This way you can begin to enjoy your space immediately and allow that sense of accomplishment to advance you onto other areas…..otherwise known as the “high” of organizing as I like to call it! Ahh so sweet!
Beth brought with her to the conference a wonderful tips booklet called The Organizing Manual for Families written by Professional Organizer Allison Carter. It includes many of the practical suggestions Beth mentioned in her workshop. I especially love the 5-Minute Fix suggestion:
If you rarely get large blocks of time for projects, try the 5-minute fix! Declutter for 5 minutes everyday in the same room for one month. At the end of the month, you will see a huge improvement! Suggestions for what can be done in 5 minutes or less include:
- Remove expired medicine from a cabinet
- Toss out broken or dried pens and pencils
- Declutter a shelf or drawer
- Discard canned food not used in a year
- File 10 papers
- Sort coupons
- Sort laundry and start a load
- Return 2 e-mails
- Enter addresses into your electronic organizer
- Clean out papers in a bookbag or briefcase
- File 10 business cards
- Put one roll of pictures into an album
- Do the dishes
- Pick 10 things to throw away
- Clean out your purse
- Toss out old make-up
- Read and sort the mail
- Clear off a counter or table top
- Set out clothes for the next day
I know I’m always amazed at how much I can get done during the TV commercials! If anyone is interested, Beth does have extra booklets for sale. She can be reached at [email protected] or by visiting her site.
Got other ideas of things that can be done around the house in 5 minutes or less? Let us know!
Update: Christine from Organizational Enlightenment will be hosting Take 5 Friday beginning Nov 16th where participants are encouraged to show what can be done in just 5 mintues to help you become or stay better organized.
Katy says
That is great! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Judy says
Getting rid of canned goods after a year is a great idea. I will do that now, after I looked through my whole pantry and couldn’t find a can of cream of mushroom soup that wasn’t expired. So I looked at all the cans and threw about a garbage can full away.
I’ll be visiting more often.
chupieandjsmama says
Now I know I can find 5 minutes. I’m definitely going to try this. Thanks for the tips!
Multi-tasking Mommy says
I love commercials because the things I accomplish during them make me feel less guilty for sitting down to watch a show!
Sarah Kimmel says
Make kids lunches for the next day, so you aren’t scrambling in the morning.
jen says
Funny…just this week I had decided that I was going to take some of the areas that are bothering me the most, and make lists of 10-15 minute tasks to break them down into bite-sized pieces. Now I’m even more inspired to get on that!! Thanks!
Debi says
Perfect timing! I’ve been really starting to feel overwhelmed about getting everything organized for the holidays…but I really like this 5-minute idea. Surely I can keep myself focused for 5 minutes at a time, can’t I?
VeteranMilitaryWife says
I like to dust with a featherduster during TV commercials and then run outside to shake it out. Another 5 minute task is are emptying the dishwasher.
Jamie says
I’m panicking about the holidays- I only have a month and a half before my mom comes, lol! My downstairs is pretty okay (with 4 kids, it’s about as good as it gets), but my upstairs time is cleaned during commercials. My room and laundry are done during the shows.
Kathie says
Great ideas. Enyoyed stopping by.
Blessings from Costa Rica
Mrs. Wilson says
Awesome idea! Anything that helps me be organized is wonderful!
Lori - Queen of Dirt says
First of all, I love the idea of doing 5 minute projects! After the heck that is my Garage Sale is over, I fully intend to implement the plan. For now, though, my life is one big project.
Next, take a look at my name – your blog has decided I’m Queen of Dirt since there’s not enough room for Dirty Laundry. Ain’t that a hoot?
momrn2 says
What Great information!! Goodness knows I have been trying to “organize my family” for quite some time now! 🙂
Tricia says
Organize my family is one thing now if they could keep it that way. LOL.
bohgirl says
The 5 minute idea really motivated me last night!! At each commercial I went to the spice cabinet and consolidated the duplicate oregano, parsley and whatnot and fill the containers on the spice rack. Two sides of the spice cabinet have been combined to one!! I felt so great standing back and seeing that I had finshed SOMETHING. Thanks so much for the little kick in the butt!
Susanne says
I love the idea of 5 minute fix stuff. And it is motivating to do the bigger jobs. Now if I can just tackle that storage room that seems to breed stuff 5 minutes after I’ve sorted, purged and cleaned.
Ally says
Love these tips. I can totally see myself being able to do these in five minutes. I usually think of five minutes as so short but the other day I realized how long it is when I was waiting on something to nuke in the microwave.