Ten Minutes a Room

After some years of frustration at not being able to accomplish my goals in homemaking, I devised a game for myself that helps our household run more smoothly.

Instead of spending a big chunk of time in any one room of the house at the beginning of each day, I spend up to ten minutes in each room. I time myself by the clock, and when ten minutes are up, I move on. Counting the laundry room, hall, and bathrooms, this initial house cleaning takes two hours.

Ten minutes is a very small amount of time to spend cleaning a room like the kitchen, but I can clear the dishes off the table and put them in the sink in ten minutes. I can also fold a load of wash or make a bed or scrub the bathroom fixtures in ten minutes.

At the end of two hours my home is presentable, and I feel more at ease taking time to read the scriptures, prepare a Primary lesson, or cut out a dress. Earlier, I would have felt guilty engaging in these activities while my house was in disarray.

Of course, good housekeeping requires much more than ten minutes in each room, so after the initial once-over I go back and concentrate on the heavier projects like floor scrubbing, vacuuming, or cleaning out cupboards. It’s good to establish a schedule for these kinds of cleaning projects also. By combining my ten-minute plan with my other schedule I’m able to get the house clean on the surface as well as underneath—and still have time for other activities. Betty Jan Murphy, Tucson, Arizona

Illustrated by Michael Rogan