After a long day at work, the only thing I want to do when I walk in the door is hit the sofa for a few minutes. However, after a couple weeks of that, it’s easy to let your surroundings go, and turn into a wasteland. 
My solution? Take five minutes a day, whether in the morning or right after you get home for the day, to pick up around you. My schedule looks like this:
Minute 1: Gather and sort mail.
- Sort mine & my roommate’s
- Recycle junk mail
- Put important mail in our bin (Note: we have a small bin that holds mail before we get the chance to go through it. It’s pretty cute, and is a nice thing to have when you want to tidy up quickly. It’s from Goodwill, too.)
Minute 2: Put away work stuff.
- Laptop bag/purse
- Change clothes (and hang up or laundry-bin the ones you were wearing!)
Minute 3: Pick up clutter.
- Neaten the sofa/blankets
- Pick up any dirty clothes and put them in the hamper
- Put away items in the bathroom that you were too lazy to put back this morning (for example, put the toothpaste back in the medicine cabinet instead of on the counter)
Minutes 4-5: Quick cleaning task. Choose one from:
- Wiping down kitchen counters
- Dusting the living room furniture
- Dusting the bedroom furniture
- Emptying the dishwasher
- Taking out the garbage
Boom. Done. Now you can relax in a much neater space.
Five minutes can make a huge difference in how your apartment looks and feels, even after a long day. Take the time to improve your surroundings every day, and you won’t even need a huge deep-clean often.
Better idea: (and my downfall) get into the habit of putting everything you use away right when you’re done. Don’t wait to throw out trash or put dishes in the dishwasher. If it takes less than 30 seconds, do it right then.
How does your 5-minute cleaning routine look? Anything I forgot to add, or isn’t worth the minute of your time? Let us know in the comments!
