How To: Quickly Tidy and Clean

Last night, I found tranquility in the most surprising way possible: by quickly cleaning my house. The day had been one where I wasn’t feeling very accomplished. Luckily for me, I live 1 mile away from my metro stop, so while yes, this is an inconvenience when I am running late, I have grown to love the 20 minute walk home after work. I often store my phone in my bag, out of reach, and focus my awareness on simply being outdoors.

When I arrived home, I was already feeling a bit better and ready to put this unaccomplished feeling behind me. While there are very few things in life that provide instant fulfillment, there are two I rely on heavily in moments like this: the first is a home cooked meal and the second is cleaning the house. Both of these activities allow you to go from start to finish in the matter of hours with a concrete outcome to show for it, whether it be a delicious herb crusted pork loin or clutter-free floors.

So I went to work cleaning and discovered these four quick cleaning tips:

1. Stay focused.

If you’re like me, your cleaning spree usually starts by tearing apart your closet so that you can rearrange, organize, and toss. But if you’re also like me, you usually get as far as ripping the closet apart before your attention is diverted, leaving more of a mess than you started with. Last night, I tried a new technique to stay focused and it worked like a charm. I set a timer for every room and told myself I have to get as much put away and cleaned as I can before the timer went off. I can’t believe how well this little trick worked! I found myself moving quickly, staying focused, and cleaning more efficiently than I ever thought possible.

2. Assess the mess.

When using a timer I realized quickly that not all mess is equal. While it took my 5 minutes to tidy-up my bathroom, it took me 15 to clean the office that had conveniently become my dumping ground earlier in the week. So asses the mess and set the timer to reflect how much attention each room needs. Tip: always make sure to underestimate the time needed rather than overestimate. This will ensure you are moving quickly, getting it done, and not getting caught up in the details (like finishing knitting that scarf you started before you put your knitting needles away…. don’t do that!)

3. Tackle one room at a time.

Using a timer only works if you tackle one room at a time. When you find something that doesn’t belong in the room you are currently working on, put it in the next room and let it be. When spending 8 minutes tidying my bedroom, I found a dozen items that belonged downstairs. If each time I took the item I found and brought it to its rightful spot, I would have went up and down the stairs a dozen times, wasting all my time with little to show. Instead, I placed it all in a pile right outside my door and took all the items downstairs at the same time once my time for cleaning the bedroom had expired.

Using the above method, I was able to clean the entire house in an hour flat. Even more impressive is that the hour went by in the blink of an eye. Racing the clock kept me engaged and determined and helped me remain focused on the task and room at hand.

Test out this method and let me know how it goes!