The 10 magic minutes are less a way of parting with things but a way to stay on top of the daily chores. For years I have been questioning my tidy friends to find out how they do it. I think I know now. They just take care of things more or less the second they happen. They don't let it pile up. So instead of trying to fix it once it's piled up, they never let it get that far.
I decided to give it a try. Needless to say just because I wanted to try to keep a clean house clean, my messy house was still messy. And not being able to ever get it clean was the problem in the first place. So I figured I will just clean up one room. Get it perfectly organized and maintain it.
My theory was that it should take about 10 min to get a room that was cleaned the day before back to the desired state. So I counted my rooms, added a 10 min block for morning chores (taking down dirty laundry, sorting it and starting the washer) another 10 min block for laundry, 10 min for each meal and ended up with 12 10 min blocks to work.
I decided that I would always work the rooms in the same order. I would start at the top of the stairs and work my way around counter clock wise.
I started my little experiment by cleaning out my bedroom. Everything was taken out. I washed out every drawer, vacuumed under and behind furniture, washed the windows. Once everything was cleaned I only let stuff back in that I actually wanted in that room. (Yes, that did leave me with a pile of stuff I didn't know what to do with, but I did what I usually do in a situation like this. I throw it all in card board boxes or laundry baskets and either have it disapear in the attic or the basement. I know, I know. Not a solution but it works for me. HAHAHA!)
So after 2 days of hard work I started my experiment. I dedicated 10 min to every room the moment everybody was out of the house. It was quite rewarding to see just how easy it was to keep that bedroom clean. 10 min was plenty. Even on bad days. Most of the time I was done in less than 5 min. So what did I do with those extra minutes? I dedicated them to room #2. (So 10 min for room #2 plus all the minutes left from room #1) Within a week or 2 all of a sudden I had 2 clean, organized rooms. And within 2 months I more or less had the house under control. It was quite the satisfying experience. I never thought I had it in me. Cleaning was less of a drag because I finally saw results. And I saw them every day.
I keep track of my work. I have a little piece of paper. Any scrap paper will do. I write down the 12 10 min units. I cross each one off when it's done. At the moment my house is completely out of control. Why? Because I haven't used the 10 magic minutes. I will go and practice what I preach! The timer is set! Ask me if I was successful tomorrow!
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