15 minutes and the kitchen sink

You can do anything for 15 minutes.

I first heard this phrase from the Fly Lady when I was in college. I was taking post-baccalaureate classes at Brigham Young University to get me ready for a master’s degree in a completely different field. I jumped from Journalism to Marriage Family Human Development. In order to better my chances of getting into the program, I took a Work and Family class. It opened my eye to the role of seemingly mundane and repetitive household tasks.

And it definitely made me a better room mate. I remember going back to my apartment and cleaning the entire kitchen and living room as I baked a quiche in the oven. It was strangely fun? And oh so different than my face-paced student and journalistic lifestyle where I lived on Western Family Mac and Cheese and did the bare minimum of picking up after myself and doing clean check this week.

I still remember the sense of accomplishment I felt as I looked around the room and inhaled the delicious aroma of my quiche. And the best part – it didn’t take that long! Fifteen minutes to a half hour per room and I was done.

So I looked more into this Fly Lady character. She had lots of advice about keeping your home clean, getting organized, and even losing weight. All was informative and some I have gone back to over the years (I still subscribe to the emails). But I always have come back to the: you can do anything for 15 minutes.

In fact, I drove one of my roommates nuts because I would set my phone alarm for 15 minutes and rotate between studying, cleaning the apartment, reading, typing, grading papers, etc. But it helped me stay awake during the hours and hours of reading that I ended up doing for grad school.

Now, I know there are times in life to buckle down and just get things done. In fact, my husband is that kind of a person. No 15 minute timer for him. But my hope is that by starting early and doing 15 minutes here and there on a task, that when the time comes to buckle down – I’ll have the toughest behind me and I’ll be able to accomplish my task fast! No matter what it is!

This line of thinking has been beneficial for me as a new mom and a mom of babies and toddlers. In fact, sometimes when I am pregnant or when I have a newborn – the goal is that I can do anything for 5 minutes! Because that is sometimes all I have with little ones needing diapers changed, sippy cups, and lots of loves and kisses.

And it is amazing what you can accomplish in 15 minutes. Emptying the dishwasher, starting the laundry, picking up toy – it is all doable. And it has helped me to feel less overwhelmed – especially in that new mommy stage.

The 15 minute attitude has spilled over into other aspects of my life as well. 15 minutes to get ready or do something for myself like paint my nails. 5 minutes to drink water every hour. 15 minutes of peace and meditation. 15 minutes of pure fun with my children.

Awhile back I was reading an article from the book Helping and Healing Our Familes. The article is titled “The Family and the Kitchen Sink” by the Jeff and Juanita Hill Family. Now this was a fun article to read because Jeff Hill was one of my graduate instructors. Talk about a man with a can-do attitude. For this man the sky is the limit. He encouraged us to do things we did not think were possible and was always asking, “why not.” He seems to do an excellent job at juggling many capacities between family and work – that is actually his area of expertise.

In his article, he talks about how after every meal each member of the family was required to help mom and dad clean up for 10 minutes. He said, “it doesn’t matter if you want to do it, you just do it.” The article continues with their grown children citing what they had learned from the experience growing up. They learned to work together, to have fun working together, to sacrifice, and that many hands make for light work. It also provided the parents time to talk with the children while they worked.

We have decided to implement this in our family and we have been having success with it. The kitchen is oh so much cleaner when my husband, my three year old, and I dig in and just clean for 15 minutes. And a cleaner kitchen means that we are more likely to want to cook the next meal their rather than eat out.

What family traditions do you have that help your family keep the home clean and work together?