10 minutes per room

If you are having a dinner party and your place is not quite people friendly (piles of mail, piles of paper, half-done projects spread all over the place), pour a big glass of water, put on your work-out togs* and set your egg timers!

Ready, get set, clean each room for 10 minutes, starting with the bathroom. When the egg timer dings, change rooms and take a big sip of water. No cheating! You're looking for the Big Picture Clean with this exercise. As your space gets de-cluttered, you also get hydrated. Great idea right? It works! And you feel an instant sense of accomplishment.

If your space needs more cleaning (which it most often will), do a second pass, this time setting your timer for 15 minutes. Repeat the cycle, increasing your time interval, until you feel satisfied. It's a great way to clean your space in a hurry and stay on-task.


*I always find that wearing racing stripes and sneakers makes me work faster. I do this when I need to get an order out the door too.