Five Minutes Make ALL The Difference

Last weekend Jake and I had no choice but to dedicate our Saturday to cleaning, organizing, and otherwise getting on top of all household needs.

Both of our schedules had been go, go, go, so we had at least five loads of laundry to wash, fold, and put away, two sinks full of dishes to clean (with a possibly broken dishwasher to inspect), shelves to dust, and an entire apartment to tidy and vacuum. And while we were in the mode, we wanted to organize dresser drawers and get rid of...anything and everything. I've been in a total stuff detoxing mode and am more freely letting go of so many things that I simply don't need. (Or don't want to need.) Yes, this girl is down to half of a small closet....like 2 1/2 feet of hangers. Jake actually has equal space! Three years ago I alone filled two walk-in closets.

So we stayed focused most of the day and were able to make our apartment presentable and, in all actuality, livable.

I did not want to let that amazing-clean-apartment-environment slip away.

So every night, we decided to simply tidy our apartment for five minutes before we'd go to bed. That five minutes allowed for cleaning any dishes, putting away clothes, wiping down bathroom sinks, folding blankets, or even emptying the trash.

My goodness, our simply technique worked amazingly.

Enter Thursday night.

Thursdays are my long days of teaching. And my last day of teaching for the week. So I'm usually exhausted by the otherwise early 7 pm I get home. If I sit down...I don't get back up. Jake works until 9:30 pm and had also taken two tests that day and then had to stay out later working on a paper. Needless to say, neither of us managed to dedicate five minutes before we crashed for the evening. (I may have fallen asleep by 8 pm on the couch.) This also led to us missing the five minutes Friday night. And here it is Saturday. A Saturday that Jake entirely spent in an 8-5 class and then 5:30-2am work shift, and I spent 8-6 doing an instructor training and then grocery shopping and errands.

And I wish hadn't missed those 15 minutes. It's crazy the difference it makes. Luckily, we have tomorrow schedule free and another opportunity to start our five minute technique once again.