The “15 Minute Clean” is as simple as it sounds. You clean what you can for 15 minutes and once the timers chimes, you’re done.

I don’t know about you, but if I allowed myself, I could easily spend the whole dang day cleaning my house. Those days are definitely necessary when things need a good and thorough clean but I can’t spend everyday lost in the cleaning clouds.

Tell me if this sounds familiar: you get back from your morning routine (for me, it’s dropping the kids off at school) and you see that your dishes in the sink need to be cleaned. You start there. Then you notice the fridge needs be to cleaned out, then the floor needs to be mopped, the family room really could use a good dusting. While you’re here, you might as well clean the dust collection under the TV stand that your daughter pointed out the other day. It honestly reminds me of the book “If you Give a Mouse a Cookie”! One thing leads to the next and you’ve completely lost track of time and barely made a dent in your to-do list.

I realized that I needed to find a way to keep things on track during my precious “move it” hours. So, when I get home from drop off, I turn on some tunes and set my phone timer for 15 minutes. I clean what I can for 15 uninterrupted minutes and what ever doesn’t get finished, gets dealt with at a later time. The key to this is solely focus on this one task for the allotted time. No scrolling Instagram, no responding to texts, or whatnot. There is time for all that later!

I have spoken about the 15 minute clean on Instagram before and gotten some questions about what I actually do during that time. Below, is my basic run through of my “15 minute clean”!

First things first, focus on the common areas of the house. Those are the most used places and probably could use a little tidying.

The 15 Minute Clean

Smell:

Open up all the blinds and windows: Let the fresh air and sunlight inside. It truly does make the house feel different.

Light candles or diffuse oils: I will only light candles if I’m going to be home for a while. I’m been loving these candles lately for a fresh spring smell! Otherwise I will add some lavender and lemon oil to my diffuser and let it run through

Open up all the blinds and windows: Let the fresh air and sunlight inside. It truly does make the house feel different.

Light candles or diffuse oils: I will only light candles if I’m going to be home for a while. I’m been loving these candles lately for a fresh spring smell! Otherwise I will add some lavender and lemon oil to my diffuser and let it run through

Take out the trash if necessary. Sometimes we become so used to smells in our house that we don’t even notice them anymore. I try and take out the trash once a day. (TIP) If your trash can seems to hold onto yucky scents, throw a couple dryer sheets in before putting in a new bag and it should eliminate all those unpleasant smells.

Sight:

Tidy up the couch cushions and blankets. Reset the sitting/lounge areas.

Pick up everything that does not belong in the main rooms and place them in a bin or basket. (I normally don’t put these things away during the 15 minute clean because I want my daughter to help when she gets home from school…she’ll be responsible for her items)

Move all the dirty dishes to the sink and wipe down your counters. Come back to them later if you have time!

Tidy up the entryway. Put away shoes, put keys on the hooks and hang up the jackets. Having these designated homes on our entryway has seriously been a game changer. We now make a conscious effort to put things where they belong as soon as we walk in the door.

Bonus:

If the house was already pretty tidy and my timer hasn’t gone off yet, I’ll take care of the dishes in the sink and throw a load of laundry. I normally do a load that doesn’t require immediate attention. Typically, it’s not the time to wash my husbands work shirts (unless I want to tack on steaming to my to-list….which I don’t).

There it is! A simple, quick, and effective way to maintain a clean house through out the day. It really has allowed me to focus on real tasks at hand without worrying about the state of my house!

I’d love to know if you try the 15 minute clean and what else you do to keep your house in check! Leave them on my latest IG post and lets share the knowledge.