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Clutter Control: "The
Ten Minute Tidy"
Housework and
I haven't always been friends. It's been a struggle over the
past twenty-three years of married life to learn the habit of
keeping a neat and orderly home. Some days I'm more successful
at it than others, but I'm learning and growing in this area
constantly.
I've often
found that reading assorted books by housework "experts"
are more depressing than they are inspiring for those of us who
are a bit domestically challenged. Yes, these experts know what
they're doing. But so often I don't feel like they have even
a glimpse of how difficult basic housekeeping can be for someone
who just doesn't seem to have it in their genes to do it naturally.
One of the
most helpful and simplest things my children and I do to maintain
our home is something we've dubbed the Ten Minute Tidy. What
it invovles is this: Everyone runs around the house picking up
clutter and putting it away as fast as they can for ten minutes.
Whenever I
notice that the main living areas of the house are getting that
well lived-in look, I call for a Ten Minute Tidy. Everyone drops
whatever they're doing and then flies into "pick-up-the-stuff"
mode. I actually set a kitchen timer for ten minutes and when
it goes off, we're done. Usually I tidy the kitchen and main
bathroom myself while the kids tidy the living room, family room,
and if there's still time left, their bedrooms. It's amazing
how quickly the house can go from looking messy to looking neat
when everyone works fast, works together, and works smart.
The purpose
of the Ten Minute Tidy isn't to actually deep clean the house,
but to tidy up the rooms so our home looks neat and livable again.
The cleaning and regular maintenance is done during a scheduled
"Upkeep" time each day. I always focus the Ten Minute
Tidy on the areas that make a first impression when people enter
my home. In our case, that's the entry/hallway, living room,
kitchen/family area, and main bath.
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**This article
excerpted and adapted from "A Simple Choice: A practical
guide for saving your time, money and sanity" (Champion
Press, 2000).**
Used with permission.
All rights reserved.
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Author: © COPYRIGHT DEBORAH TAYLOR-HOUGH |
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Deborah Taylor-Hough
(free-lance writer, wife, and mother of three) is the author
of 'Frozen Assets: How to cook for a day and eat for a month'
and the soon-to-be-released 'Frugal Living for Dummies(r)' (Wiley,
Feb. '03)
Visit Debi
online at: http://hometown.aol.com/dsimple/
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ARTICLE POSTED
NOVEMBER 23, 2003 |
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