15 Minutes a Day: How to Maintain Order at Home Without Going Crazy

While in quarantine, many of us have faced not only problems with self-organization and stress but also household issues. Chaos and dust now accumulate not by days, but by hours. To ease the cleaning process at home, we've gathered the best quick life hacks and organization systems that help maintain cleanliness every day.

Set a Timer

Set a timer for 15–20 minutes — such a cleaning session doesn’t seem daunting. You'll easily and without excuses start the task, and when the timer rings, you’ll likely not leave any job unfinished. In the end, you’ll be able to cross at least one item off your cleaning list.

Divide Tasks

Choose one type of cleaning: for example, dusting. Move from room to room only dusting. This way you save time on changing cleaning supplies and avoid distractions.

Put Everything Back in Place

Author of the "Anonymous Slackers" system Sandra Felton is convinced that one of the main principles of any cleaning is to put each item back where it came from. "If the action takes 30 seconds or less, do it immediately." That way you won’t need to search for a remote control, phone or keys all over the house.

Dust Regularly

When all items are in their places, dusting becomes much easier. Quickly vacuum the floors, carpets (and don’t forget the door mat), and furniture upholstery. Don’t forget to clean radiator screens — for this, a vacuum cleaner with a special dust-collecting attachment works best.

Follow Storage Rules

The key secret of Marie Kondo is vertical storage of items. This way, things are easily seen and you can pull out what you need without disturbing others.

By the way, this trick can also be used during cleaning. Store all household products in a plastic box and carry it with you. This life hack will save you from having to go from room to room for leftover cleaning supplies.

Divide the Apartment into Zones

Divide your apartment into zones and tidy up each zone daily for a week. These zones can be rooms: bedroom, children's room, hallway, kitchen, living room, bathroom. Or specific spots in the apartment: desk, kitchen table or windowsill.

Establish Mandatory Rituals

Start and end your day every day with two simple actions. In the morning, make your bed, in the evening — polish the sink until it shines. It’s from these areas of cleanliness that order in the house begins.

Get Rid of Everything Unnecessary

During daily cleaning, you’ll surely find unnecessary items that it’s time to get rid of. Set aside a separate box, drawer or basket for this purpose — collect all unnecessary items there and at the end of the month decide what to do with them.

Items in good and working condition can, for example, be donated to charity or given to those who need them more.

Combine Cleaning with Other Tasks

During TV commercial breaks, you can easily wash dishes or while food heats up in the microwave, wipe the stove. This won’t cost you any effort and the waiting time won’t be wasted.