We all have a junk drawer that’s overflowing with stuff we don’t need. Did you know that sauce packets are good for eight months? You can also spend 15 minutes organizing the junk drawer to make it easier to find what you need when you need it.
When was the last time you cleared out your fridge of old food? Chances are, your fridge needs a good clearing, including all of the stuff on the shelves inside of the door. Just look at the expiration date and toss anything that’s overdue.
If there are cans and nonperishables in your pantry you haven’t used in a while, consider getting rid of them. Instead of throwing these items away, consider donating them to a pantry. Not only are you making more space for stuff you’ll actually use, but you may also be giving the food to someone that will eat it.
No one likes cleaning their windows, but you can get it finished in less than 15 minutes. If you have a lot of windows, consider doing one room at a time. Work on the inside and then take on the outside with a bit of glass cleaner and newspaper. Newspaper won’t leave streaks like towels or washcloths.
The outside of your kitchen appliances can get just as dirty as the inside. Food may splash up, or grease might pop and splatter on the side. Grab a disinfecting wipe or your kitchen sponge and give all of your kitchen appliances a good wipe-down.
Dusting is the worst, but it can seriously help allergies and make your house look just a little more put-together. Swifter dusters are fantastic for grabbing dust without having to use too much elbow grease. As a tip, the store brand works just as well at a fraction of the cost.
Laundry that’s strewn across the house can make rooms look dirty, even if they aren’t. Most of the time, it can take less than 15 minutes to pick up stray socks and toss them in the hamper. At least, if you don’t have sons that throw them everywhere.
No one likes going through the mail, but it’s a necessary evil. A stack of mail can make a place look untidy, but it only takes minutes to rifle through. Even if you can’t handle bills and other important letters at the moment, it only takes minutes to toss out advertisements and other sales envelopes.
Decluttering can mean different things to everyone. Since your living room is usually the first thing, people see when they enter your house. If you have kids, you might have books and toys sitting around. It’s time to move them to their room. Some other things you can do is straighten your bookshelves, pick up pet toys, and make sure tables are free and clear of unnecessary items.
There’s no way you’ll be able to vacuum your entire home in 15 minutes, even if you live in a studio apartment. Instead, tackle it one room at a time. Pull out your vacuum and get as much done in one room as you can. For places like your living room, you may need to tackle it one-half at a time.
The kitchen counter can fall into the catch-all category since it’s accessible to everyone in the home and it’s easy to set something down and leave it there for someone else to pick up. It only takes a few minutes to pick everything up and drop it on the owners’ beds to put away when they get home.
We don’t mean from ceiling to floor, here. We mean walk around the house and spot clean your walls and doors. Animals and kids are notorious for leaving trails wherever they go. The walls, doors, and floorboards are no exception. It usually just takes a quick wipe to get rid of residue from these surfaces.
We know you’ve been meaning to. It’s just that it’s not on your list of priorities. Luckily, this is also a quick task that doesn’t take a lot of energy or to-do. However, once you do it, you’ll be so pleased that everything is so much easier to find when you need it!
