10-Minute Tidying: It's All You Need

Photo by Bekir Dönmez/Unsplash

We’ve been on a hiatus here at Tidy by Habit after the holidays, working on new year’s resolutions, and thinking back on the year. Somewhere between the 10-minute tidying challenge and today, the house got messy again, and I found myself overwhelmed and not sure where to start.

So, I’m reinstating the 10-minute daily routine, without adding anything more.

As I wrote, and clearly didn’t heed my own advice, adding too much is likely to set yourself up for failure. I thought after I’d completed the 30 day 10-minute challenge, I could add a little bit more, but I need to keep going with the daily 10-minute tidying until it becomes an even stronger habit before adding more.

Tips and tricks

For those days I feel a little more ambitious, I’ll do some interval tidying. Right now, to help me get back to the tidiness level I was before I got burnt out, I’ll do:

• 10-minute tidy: 50-minute rest

What if 10 minutes is too overwhelming?

I’ll be honest, after the holidays I was so burnt out, 10-minute tidying was too overwhelming. If you find yourself in this boat, here’s what I did to help me get back into the swing of things:

• Pick up 10 things, or

• Do 1- or 2-minute tidying with a 20-minute rest

For several days, I got myself to pick up 10 things. Then I took a few days where I did 1- or 2-minute tidying, until the 10-minute tidying felt doable again.

If at first you don’t succeed, try again… that’s how habits are built.