The following is a guest post from regular contributor, Angie at Echoes of Laughter.
Do you avoid organizing and tidying-type jobs in your home because you think that you don’t have ‘time’? Do you keep meaning to get to those tasks and projects, but think that you need to take a ‘day off’ or spend a whole weekend tackling those things? I am here today to encourage you and to tell you that you don’t need a whole day or weekend to devote to those things. You can accomplish a lot in just 20 minutes by setting a small goal and concentrating on just one area. Yes! It’s true. Pick an area and set your timer for 20 minutes and you will be amazed and very proud of what you can manage to get done in those precious 20 minutes. When those 20 minutes are over, you can walk away and go on with your day…feeling happy knowing that you have one area in your home that is organized and stress-free to look at. You know that saying, “baby steps”? A lot can be done with just 20 minutes of “baby steps” a few times a week.
Here is one of my 20 minute organizing projects this week. This organizer, hanging on the inside of the linen closet door, had become nothing short of a jumbly mess. Every time I opened the linen closet, this mess was staring at me. At one time, this organizer was well put together and made sense. But over time, it had just become an eyesore. So I set the timer and got to work. I removed everything, threw away the spoiled or expired products, relocated things that didn’t belong, and then I sorted things into categories.
I put one category back into each zippered pocket, labelled the pockets, and I even had a minute to spare before my timer went off. Yay!
Now when I open the linen closet door, I have a nice organizer to look at. And my family can find what they need easily without having to dig through a mess of mixed up things.
So please tell me…do you have an area in your home that could benefit from just 20 minutes of organizing time? If you schedule 20 minutes for organizing this week, what area will you tackle first?
Please comment and let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts!
Wishing you a wonderful week and I hope there is some sunshine in your corner of the world!
Angie’s blog, Echoes of Laughter, is all about filling your home with love and laughter. She loves creative projects, organizing & decorating, cooking, baking, and all things domestic. Angie lives in Alberta, Canada with her husband and two great kids.
Student Mom (Jenn) says
Ha! I have a cupboard that I refuse to look at because I’m convinced that the only way to sort it is to throw everything out and start again. But in order to throw everything out I have to read it all. That’s about 9 years worth of paper that’s been crammed into the ‘don’t look now’ cupboard.
Ideally I would like to hand my keys over to Hellen Buttigieg and come back to a revived house.
rhonda says
grab an arm full and a file box and a trash bag and when sitting in front of the TV sort just the arm full that you took out. how do you eat an elephant ONE BITE AT A TIME.
Britney Mills says
Definitely the linen/medicine closet! It’s a disaster, especially since my husband dumped out the box of meds all over one of the shelves….it makes me want to go home and clean it right now! 🙂
Kimberley says
I use the 20 minute strategy every day to get my house organized…..it works so much better than doing it all at once!! I am always amazed by how much I can do in 20 minutes!!
melissa says
I hear that! my linen closet is sort of a catch-all for anythign and everythign on my second floor… 20 minutes will definitely help!
Smallfry says
I’m able to stay at home with my kids 9, almost 6 and almost 2. The 2 year old is the hard one because he can’t pick all his things up yet and put them back in their original place. I normally just let his toy shelf be whatever he wants it to be and let him put his things back in whatever bin he wants before nap time or bedtime at night. It becomes a crazy mess when mixed with the larger toys from his toy box. Just this morning before I even read the email about this completely, I just read the title, I went to his room and set the timer on my phone. I went through every toy and stuff thing in his room and wiped down/cleaned and organized them all. During the process I gathered half of a trash bag full of things for our next garage sale. He has millions of things it seems but I finished all of this task with 5 minutes to spare so I was able to do a quick dusting and vacuum of his room. As I’m sitting here now typing this out on my phone’s internet I hear the crash of a toy bin being dumped on the floor…this does not bother me because I know the toys he will be picking up here in a few minutes to be able to take a nap are clean and no junk or old toys remain. They are all played with almost daily. What a relief this is to me! Now I have a bunch of 20 minute periods to help me get more of my home clean and organized during his nap time. I promise to devote only one 20 minute slot to each area today. No more feeling as if I have to do it all at once ! Happy dance time!!!
Smallfry says
I’m able to stay at home with my kids 9, almost 6 and almost 2. I normally just let my youngest’s toy shelf be whatever he wants it to be and let him put his things back in whatever bin he wants before nap time or bedtime at night. It becomes a crazy mess when mixed with the larger toys from his toy box. Just this morning before I even read the email about this completely, I just read the title, I went to his room and set the timer on my phone. I went through every toy and stuff thing in his room and wiped down/cleaned and organized them all. During the process I gathered half of a trash bag full of things for our next garage sale. He has millions of things it seems but I finished all of this task with 5 minutes to spare so I was able to do a quick dusting and vacuum of his room. As I’m sitting here now typing this out on my phone’s internet I hear the crash of a toy bin being dumped on the floor…this does not bother me because I know the toys he will be picking up here in a few minutes to be able to take a nap are clean and no junk or old toys remain. They are all played with almost daily. What a relief this is to me! Now I have a bunch of 20 minute periods to help me get more of my home clean and organized during his nap time. I promise to devote only one 20 minute slot to each area today. No more feeling as if I have to do it all at once ! Happy dance time!!!
Lana says
I cleaned out and organized 2 closets this week and a friend already came and hauled off the clothing for her kids. Yay! I also cleaned out and organized my thread and bobbins. This really needed doing. I try to squeeze little jobs into waiting for the tea kettle to boil, for the washer to stop spinning,etc. Works for me!
Holly says
I am hoping Angi can remember where she bought the over the door organizer. I would like very much to buy one for my daughter at college. Their space is so limited in the dorm. I am a big fan of setting a timer before I start to clean an area or room. Otherwise, I get obsessive about moving and deep cleaning and end up making more of a mess. Timers are my friend and I now am almost clutter free and organized.
Angie@Echoes of Laughter says
Hi Holly! I got it at Zellers in Canada about 5 years ago. If I see one similar, I will let you know.
april says
Wow, I LOVE the idea of using a hanging organizer for travel/sample stuff! Makes it easier to see what you have.
Great encouragement about taking 20 mins at a time to tackle some things. I admit I’ve been stalled lately in organizing/simplifying because it would “take too long.” A little is better than none at all, right?
Tom says
Organizing will only seem difficult because the mess is so discouraging, and I say this from experience. It will take me a lot of effort to convince my self to sort things out in my closet and have them rearranged neatly, although the job itself won’t take any longer than 30 minutes. So my point is that besides goals, we’ll also need motivation when organizing our stuff.
Mel the Crafty Scientist says
Looks much better after your organizing makeover! I love it and it makes me want to put up the hanging organizers/hanging shoe organizers all over the place… : )
-Mel the Crafty Scientist
Stacy @ Home Key Organization says
I can always organize my kitchen drawers…for real!
It’s funny–I’m an organizer too, and everyone thinks my house should be perfect. It’s not bad, but as we know–stuff needs maintenance organizing!
holly williams says
I need to tackle my bathroom,kitchen,and closet spaces including my small food pantry. Not sure where to start first.
Nicole says
I care for my disabled grandma and the home is jam packed. There are organizers on almost every door. Our house is a clutter nightmare. My grandmother has a lifetime of items. We live in her home so it’s her things and our things packed into one small house. My question is how can I get rid of this mess when no one wants to get rid of anything? It is depressing almost everywhere I look there is a cluttered area. Please help!
Laura Wittmann says
Oh Nicole, this is so hard and frustrating for sure. When sharing space with someone who is afraid of tossing anything it can seem hopeless. But don’t give up. One possibility is to box up stuff not being used and simply store it either in a spare room or off site. Tell you Gramma that all the clutter makes it hard on you so you are simply going to clean up rather than toss. Not ideal but still respecting Gramma’s wishes. Ideally you’d want her to go through it with you so you can figure out what is most important to her. Explain that you’d rather do this now with her instead of later when she is gone. You might also want to consider bringing in a third party like a Professional Organizer who can give honest feedback and find a win-win solution for all parties involved. Check out napo.net for one in your area. All the best to you. Laura