Easily sidetracked.

I was cleaning off the top of the fish tank in the living room, throwing away junk mail, putting all the other things that had found their way there in their correct places. I set aside an issue of "Seventeen" to take to my neighbor for her neice. I walked across the yard to take the magazine to Angela, and almost fell on my butt as my foot slipped out from under me. I had stepped in a stinking yellow pile of dog doo. I got out the hose, changed from the sprinkler to a nozzle, sprayed the pile into the street, rinsed off my foot. I turned to spray some mud off the side of the house, and accidentally got water on my van. Not wanting to leave water spots and knowing that my car needed a wash (which isn't in the budget this week), I rinsed my van off, then went inside and took out two towels and dried off my van. Then I had to start a load of laundry to wash the towels.

My 15 minutes of focus on one task had gotten out of hand. This is a problem I really struggle with. How about you? Have you found any ways to combat this problem?

Take One - The kitchen

Let's dive right in, shall we?

Here is my kitchen, before. Trash on the floor, stuff littering the countertops, dishes piled up.

Mail piled up on the countertop. Crumbs, spills, empty containers. Things that belong in other rooms. Lots of kids' stuff - hair pretties, crayons, drawings, toys.

I did three 15 minute sessions. That was all it took to put away everything where it belonged, throw a ton of stuff away, fill the dishwasher, wipe off the counter tops, AND scrub the cabinets.

It's not perfect. It's not cute and adorable. I don't have nice new cabinets or fancy countertops, or nice appliances. I still need to sweep and mop. But it's a heck of a lot better than what I started with, and it took less than an hour. If I can do it... you can too!

In the comments section, please feel free to post about your own cleaning accomplishments. Do you have pictures? Post links to them!

I'll be tackling my living room next. Stay tuned.

Introduction!

Welcome to "You Can Do 15!". If you've ever been a part of the FlyLady groups, I'm sure you're well aware of her mantra, "you can do ANYTHING for 15 minutes at a time". No matter how daunting a task looks, tackling it in 15 minute increments is manageable and motivational. You'll find yourself racing the timer, trying to see how much you can get done in the alloted time, and more often than not, you'll find that a task you had been putting off because it seemed like "so much work" was easily accomplished.
I have found a lot of bloggers that proudly show off their Before and After pictures after a cleaning spree - sometimes it's a 15 minute dash, sometimes it's a 2 hour cleaning bonanza. But over and over, what I see in those pictures is just not MY reality. I would be estatic if my home looked like their Before pictures!
It feels good to know that you're not alone. That you're not a domestic goddess, a cleaning diva, a perfect peppy housekeeper. It's good to know that other people's homes look like a tornado (or three or four or five) have hit, strewing toys, trash, crumbs, cups, clothes, and other rubbish in every nook and cranny of your abode. This, folks, is a gritty look at us... the bad housekeepers. The slovenly, overwhelmed, wish-I-had-a-maid souls. I'll show you MY actual home, no holds barred, no staging. Reality for real moms.