Welcome Nancy!!

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Hi Friends,

I’m Nancy Jacobs from  How To Homemaker.  I’m so glad to be blogging with you today.  I’m a married stay at home mother of three busy teenage children.  I love teaching and have done some form of it all my life.  That is why How To Homemaker came into existence.  I give 'how to' tips almost daily on everything from cooking, cleaning, gardening and all things related to the homemaking.  I even throw in recipes and crafts.

Today I’m going to talk about 5 minute organizing.  I’m going to say right here and now, you will be surprised just how much you can accomplish in only 5 focused minutes of cleaning and organizing.

I have a small kitchen timer that has a clip stand.  I’m able to clip it to my pants pocket and set it for 5 minutes.  A timer is a great way to help keep you focused.

Here are just a few examples of things you can do in 5 minutes or less.

Make your bed

Clean old leftovers out of the refrigerator

Empty the dishwasher

Sweep one room

Fold a basket of laundry

Clean out your purse

Do 5 minutes of dinner prep such as chop an onion

Wipe down your bathroom counter and mirror

Empty the trash cans and take out the garbage

It is so easy to waste 5 precious minutes here and there throughout the day.  ALWAYS have a small project available to work on in your purse or in the car.  When we travel to appointments or to pick children up from activities there is always waiting time that could be used to accomplish something.  That small project could be a hobby such as some needlework or it could even be going through a magazine and pulling out the items you want to keep.  Then you can throw the magazine away.

I plan my phone calls to friends when I can multitask.  I can guarantee if you call me on the phone I will be sweeping the kitchen floor or wiping the kitchen counter, watering my houseplants or even dusting.  I will be doing some mindless task so I can concentrate on the phone conversation and yet still accomplishing a small chore around the house.

Perhaps your have a large project.  Can you do only 5 minutes when you have the chance?  I hate filing paper and it tends to pile up.  If I file for 5 minutes, I probably won't have my stack of paper completed, but my stack will be smaller, that's for sure.

I challenge you to give the 5 minute timer a try and just see how much falls into place around your home when you do something during those 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there.

I've enjoyed being with you today and I hope you will pop over to my blog at How To Homemaker and say hello to me.  It's always nice to meet new friends!

Nancy