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10-15 Minute Cleaning Sessions (New Thread)

100K views 2K replies 63 participants last post by  richella 
#1 ·
I tried reading through to get to the end of the last thread, and got dizzy! It was so fantastic to see everybody motivating each other, and I love how easy things become when they are broken into 'chunks.'

Here are my sessions, I am kid-free while they are at their dad's, and trying to get motivated!

~Dishes

~Unpacking/Putting away clothes from vacation

~Sewing room reorganize

~Sewing project started

Thank you all so much for the inspiration!
 
#2 ·
Today I did 2 loads of dishes, a ton of sweeping (Jude decided it'd be fun to scoop flour out of one bowl and into another till it was full then dump it all back into the first one... over and over!
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), vacuumed, and put his toys away.
 
#3 ·
Yay!!! For whatever reason this morning I have been super-productive. I only had one kid (their Dad took oldest for a night, and just picked up both and took them off for the night since he didn't get time with them while we were on Christmas vacation), and she played quietly with her new toys and the dog all morning.

This morning, I....

~made breakfast for bf and dd

~cleaned girls room

~made my bed

~cleaned kitchen

~read from my new-to-me kindle

~paid bills!!!

~set out today's sewing work and I am about to start a movie and just GO GO GO

Today, I still have to...

~Make dinner for a potluck tonight

~Sew a cocktail dress

~fill out my divorce paperwork AGAIN

~price out going back to school

~go to Toys R Us and return toys in exchange for another tag reader book

~stop wasting time on MDC!!!

Good luck, everybody!
 
#5 ·
Today, I...

~took the girls to storytime at the library

~did all the dishes

~tidied my sewing room

~got COMPLETELY DRESSED, hair, makeup, and clothes that made me feel nice. :) It helped a LOT.

I still have plenty of projects and paperwork, and far too much left from my list from two days ago....
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#6 ·
Today:
Vacuumed the whole house with our brand new vacuum that we got on Wednesday... Get this, it actually sucks things up instead of spitting everything all over the place like our last one!
Sorted & put away 2 loads of laundry
Briefly contemplated joining a nudist colony
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Washed another load of laundry (I got some wool sweaters that I felted and I'm going to make something with them... Ooh, I can't wait!)
Took the leaf out of the table and rearranged some stuff in J's room to make more room.
Cleaned off the table
Swept the kitchen & wiped down the countertops.
 
#7 ·
On the agenda today:

*Pack away Christmas totes.

*Wash tile floors and vacuum carpeted floors

*Launder bed linens and delicate clothing

*Declutter master bedroom closet

*Rake remainder of leaves to curb for pick-up

*Change litter box

*Make dental appt

*Wash windows and dust

*Bake two loaves of honey wheat bread

*Ten minute clean kitchen

*Ten minute clean bathrooms

*Begin homeschool mollusk studies

*Research microscope and tablet computers/laptops
 
#8 ·
I really don't know how in the world we have SO. MANY. FREAKING. CLOTHES!!! I've even weeded out my drawers and closet to about half of what they used to be, and we still have a huge mountain of laundry to be put away. So I am dedicating today to getting rid of all the excess clothes. I am going to really try to pare down a lot. I'm thinking:

Keep my 1 pair of jeans
Keep 3 skirts (eek!)
Keep about 5 shirts for 3 seasons (it gets to about 100 here in the summer and was down to 12 just the other day so I need several seasons worth of shirts--since Spring and Fall are so similar I'm counting those as 1 season)
Keep 2 pairs of leggings for wintertime (under skirts).
Keep maternity clothes, just in case. I have 5 shirts and 1 skirt. I have 2 dresses too but one is a little too short (the last thing I need to do when pregnant is try to keep my knees together with my belly in the way, so people don't see my undies! :p) and the other probably won't be worn much.

I'm also going to get rid of some towels. There is no reason for us to have so many. Yes, I'm grateful we had them the other night when the toilet overflowed (caution: low-flow toilets don't handle slices of lemon! I put a couple chunks in there to freshen and whiten... oops!) but we still have way too many!
 
#9 ·
I need to join in here, I get little chunks of time when we're transitioning between subjects or eating, etc. Here's my list for today:

~wash dishes in sink

~fold laundry in dryer, throw 1st load in dryer, start 2nd load in washer

~put accumulating recycling in their bins

~gather up all stray paperwork for DH

~pack up/ put away nativities

~start dinner

~mix starter for bread
 
#10 ·
@JessicaRenee - My boyfriend just had to fix out vacuum for doing the same thing! It definitely sprayed me with kitty litter and gunk before he cleaned the whole thing out and checked all the belts. I feel like it's a new vacuum; and it's CREEPY how dirty my carpets are, despite my vacuuming before. I filled the tank in just two bedrooms. GROSS.

@Mrsmischief - Mollusk studies? Are you actually caring for some kind of mollusk? My four year old LOVES interactive science like that, is there a way to do that at home?

My chores today -

~SO MANY PHONE CALLS

~Spending my morning sewing (feels so good!)

~Paperwork continuing

~need to quick sweep the yard and pick up

~gardening with my girls

~clean out my car

~clean my sewing room

~vacuum

~financial evaluation of my month

Already did....

~Dishes

~Breakfast made and cleaned up

~sewing!
 
#11 ·
Alright, I feel rather pleased with myself.
smile.gif
Here's the mountain I started with...

400

Here's the stack of things to go, about halfway through... The shirts on the bottom part of the picture are going to be cut into "t-shirt yarn" and crocheted into a rag rug.

563

Here's all Jude's clothes that I weeded out...

700

And, with a few more items from my closet, a few pairs of pants and some shirts from my husband's, and another pair of shoes, here's the result! I have one more pile to go through (of C's stuff, which I piled up and have been asking him to put away since SEPTEMBER!).

392
 
#12 ·
I'm just going to jump right in! This thread is exactly what I need!

Today:

  • 10 min clean up session for the living room (DD helped and it was actually quite fun!)
  • vacuumed the living area
  • dropped DD at school
  • deep cleaned the bathroom - cleaned out the tub drain, the sink drain (oh thank you postpartum hair loss for clogging both); unscrewed and cleaned the light fixtures, and cleaned the toilet in addition to all the obvious wipe down stuff.
  • folded and put away 1 load of wash (might be 2, lets see how long baby naps!)
  • made beds
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by CultivatingMyRoots View Post

@Mrsmischief - Mollusk studies? Are you actually caring for some kind of mollusk? My four year old LOVES interactive science like that, is there a way to do that at home?
Yes we are, several garden snails found around the yard are among our little critters of the moment. There are also earthworms in a compost jar from our annelids study and caterpillars soon arriving for our upcoming insect unit. We're using R.E.A.L Science Odyssey: Life as our science curriculum this year and are loving it. The labs are hands-on and very enjoyable. :)
 
#14 ·
Done today;

~Sewing

~Me alone time (RARE these days!)

~tidying

~two loads of laundry

~bedroom cleared

~decluttering

~kids down for their naps according to schedule and without LOUDNESS

~Sewing room closet repacked so it's not spilling everywhere

~Phone calls made!!!!

~homeschooling/kid activities researched and rejuvenated in my brain

I still have a few tasks to do, but none of them are huge. It is so weird to think that most of the tasks I need to do take less than twenty minutes each, and I still PROCRASTINATE SO MANY OF THEM. It's just silly. I spend more time finding things to do so I can avoid them than it would take to do them three times over!
 
#15 ·
On today's to-do list:

*Tend to indoor bulb station

*Get big decluttering item filled boxes out to the garage

*Find new homes for several items on Freecycle.

*List a few items on Craigslist

*Firm up maple syrup mini unit lesson plans

*Rake remaining leaves to curbside for pick-up

*Disinfect flower pots, hanging baskets, etc to get ready for spring planting

*Research the practicality of a few Pinterest inspired contained gardening ideas.

*Library run

*10 minute clean bedrooms and learning room

*Write a letter to my great aunt

*Homeschooling

*Tackle kitchen and dining room decluttering

*Price materials for building new dining table as our current one is far too large for our downsizing move in the near future.
 
#16 ·
Good Morning Ladies.
smile.gif
I just found this thread.

So far today I:
*made breakfast and tea
*got DD off to school
*took out the trash and opened the windows
*made the bed
*made lunch and did cleanup
*rinsed the dishes and cleaned the counters
*changed the litter box
*finished my
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smile.gif

*changed the towels in the bathroom and kitchen
*made an appointment
*took DD and her friend to horse riding
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*made dinner
*am about to start a new
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Have a good night.
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#17 ·
I just want to say that you all make me feel like a slacker! Little Lamb is down for a nap now, and I fell asleep with her! My Christmas tree is still in the living room but denuded of lights and ornamets. Gonna box those up and get the tree ready for the fire pit. It won't last long..........
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#18 ·
Ahhhh off to a great start today!!

  • showered and dressed myself
  • set the timer for a 10 min kitchen cleanup
  • swept kitchen floor
  • scrubbed sticky spots on kitchen floor
  • brought extra mugs down to the basement for more room in our cabinets
  • sprayed and cleaned up some dried cat puke on the hardwood floor

Whew! Still so much to do...
 
#19 ·
You know, it is very inspiring knowing that there are people actually struggling with the same things as me and often more. Might sound bad...but it is a kind of comfort, when the house is a total mess and I just don't know where to even start.

Anyhow, I decided to get started with the white laundry. That always seems like a good place to start, because it means the kitchen towels gets washed and dried, which in turn means I can get to the bottom of the dishes. Once that is done, I will have enough space to bake some naan bread and make a proper indian curry to go with it. Which in turn means energy for actually finishing my essay...which means I then have time to actually tackle the coloured laundry. So you see, it all boils down to getting the laundry done so I can reclaim my reading chair and relax. I'm preparing to be very, very lazy for a few days next week. :D

Oh, and I'm really helped along with my organisational tasks because I partook in the Apple 1st generation nano exchange program...and got a brand new 6th generation nano that has a timer that counts down from that. Really great little thing, for when I get lost in more interesting things than doing what I'm supposed to do. Beep it goes, reminding me to get the laundry right now. Now I finally get it, why so many swear by timers!
 
#20 ·
Got quite a bit done today already, but I feel like there is still so much more to do. Here's the remainder of my day:

Mix bread starter (never did this from yesterday)

Read aloud w/ DS1

Read aloud w/ DD1

Load dishwasher

Wash pots in sink

Clear off kitchen counter

Cast on for my fingerless mitts

Fold load of whites

Fold load of diapers

Move clothes from washer to dryer
 
#21 ·
Wow, I guess starting a new thread got us some new members.
smile.gif
That's always a good thing. Thanks for starting the thread, CultivatingMyRoots. The threads can sometimes be intimidating for people just wanting to join in. Anyone can join at any time without reading the entire thread, though. LOL (If I've been off for a while, I might glance at the last page or two, but I'd be very overwhelmed if I tried to read up on all that I missed.) I'm so happy to see new folks participating. Thanks, *bejeweled*, for linking the new thread from the old. I tend to just go by my subscriptions, so I don't always see new threads in the forum, and I wouldn't have wanted to miss this one. I haven't been participating regularly for a little while. And I need to seriously clean up my act. My printer's not working and I can't print out my Motivated Moms sheet for the week. Grumble, grumble.

Welcome to all the new members! I hope this thread helps each of you as much as it has helped me.

I was up much of the night. My babe is never fussy, but he was very fussy last night, even when I was holding him.I was fortunate that both my 4 month old and my almost 2 year old slept in with me until ridiculously late. But that means I haven't got much at all done today. DH isn't getting home from work and school until 8:30 tonight. Yuck!

Anywho, so far I have:

Made a very late breakfast

Made coffee and drank it before the caffeine headache kicked in

Ordered white sage so that we can begin daily smudging

I have to:

Wash the sheets, as my son's diaper leaked'

Transfer the mattress protector to the dryer

Fold the towels

Declutter some of my diaper stash

Place the diapers I am keeping in temporary storage

Pick up and put away the massive explosion of clothing in the bedroom

Vacuum the carpets while my toddler helps me

Make a simple, late lunch

Make the bed

Sort through 18 month clothes to give extra pj's and long sleeved shirts to a fellow mama

I'll be back to add more when I've accomplished some of these things.
 
#22 ·
WOW! You should consider participating on the decluttering 2012 in 2012 thread if you're not already! You inspire me to finally tackle my clothes!

Quote:
Originally Posted by jimblejamble View Post

Alright, I feel rather pleased with myself.
smile.gif
Here's the mountain I started with...
400
Here's the stack of things to go, about halfway through... The shirts on the bottom part of the picture are going to be cut into "t-shirt yarn" and crocheted into a rag rug.
563
Here's all Jude's clothes that I weeded out...
700
And, with a few more items from my closet, a few pairs of pants and some shirts from my husband's, and another pair of shoes, here's the result! I have one more pile to go through (of C's stuff, which I piled up and have been asking him to put away since SEPTEMBER!).
392
 
#23 ·
This is my list that needs done in the next couple of days.

Vacuum my bedroom

Shampoo my bedroom carpet

Clean my bathroom - The only thing left of my bathroom is the tub.

Clean the inside of the van

Vacuum the van

Wash the shower curtain liner

Get my bed prepared for the birth with extra sheets on top of the clean shower curtain liner

Move Son #1's clothes to the upstairs dresser

Move Daughter #2's clothes into the downstairs dresser

Wash the neutral baby clothes and put them away in the changing table

Put new batteries in the baby swing/bassinet

One thing I didn't put on my list but that I did do today was buy an infant carseat! :) I'm so excited because I found it at the 2nd hand store.
 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by PoetryLover View Post

Made coffee and drank it before the caffeine headache kicked in

Ordered white sage so that we can begin daily smudging
Props to you for drinking coffee -- was it still warm, too? LOL.

And what is sage smudging?

Ok so add:

  • set a 10 min timer for the living room pickup
 
#25 ·
Oh my gosh I have to share!! Since I started doing this cleaning two days ago, I've been feeling so proud. But it was just me enjoying my own productivity. Today -- my MIL and BIL dropped by unexpected. Normally this would cause me to panic and be so embarrassed. BUT - My living room was tidy! Floors clean! Kitchen spotless! Bathroom clean! Oh my gosh, so THIS is what it feels like! I feel SO FREAKING PROUD!!

joy.gif
 
#26 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes View Post

Oh my gosh I have to share!! Since I started doing this cleaning two days ago, I've been feeling so proud. But it was just me enjoying my own productivity. Today -- my MIL and BIL dropped by unexpected. Normally this would cause me to panic and be so embarrassed. BUT - My living room was tidy! Floors clean! Kitchen spotless! Bathroom clean! Oh my gosh, so THIS is what it feels like! I feel SO FREAKING PROUD!!

joy.gif
Congratulations!!!!! It's amazing what you can do in 10-15 minutes at a time! That's a great feeling.
 
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