25 Things You Can Do When You Only Have 5 Minutes to Spare

I’m a BUSY lady.  I won’t bore you with a daily to-do list, or the activities or ministries I’m involved in…I’m sure many of you have longer or more daunting lists.  But this Summer I have been very intentional about the time I am spending with my kiddos.  My oldest graduated in June and my next oldest graduates next June and so I’m really feeling like my time with them at home is running out (because it is!!)!  We didn’t go on any elaborate vacations or fancy destinations but I decided early on this Summer that I was going to make the most of my time with them from June to August.  So, my house, my yard, my chores, some of my ministries, and even a friend or two have been placed on the back burner so I can enjoy my kids.

Because of this focus change, I have rearranged the way I do things around the house so it continues to stay clean-ish and functioning.  My strategy has been to make the most of the few minutes I spend at home each day and use every minute for profit.  Before being intentional about my time, I would have a few minutes to spare but would sit down at the computer and browse through social media, five minutes an hour later, I would get up and realize that I had accomplished nothing and indeed had wasted any spare moments I had.  UGH!!  So this Summer I’m avoiding the distractions of the blog and social media as much as possible and it has helped a lot.

In making the most of my spare time, I’ve compiled a list of things that I found can be done in 5 minutes or less that can help keep your house clean, your hubby happy, and your kids feeling loved.  So here goes:

1.  Load or Unload the Dishwasher – if you don’t have a dishwasher (I’m really sorry), you could probably get the dishes in your sink washed up by hand in 5 minutes as well.

2.  Clean Out a Drawer – if this happens to be your big junk drawer it may take longer than 5 minutes but you can certainly wipe out your silverware drawer or tidy up other ones in 5 minutes.

3.  Fold a Load of Laundry – grabbing a couple of extra hands from the kiddos can make this go even faster.

4.  Iron a Shirt (or two) – how meticulous you are will obviously determine the number of shirts you can get done in 5 minutes.

5.  Gather Laundry and Start a Load – I can move from room to room gathering laundry hampers from off the floor and get a load started in no time.

6.  Wipe Down the Bathroom – the sink, counter, toilet, and floor can get a quick wipe down in this time frame, if your tub needs cleaned, that might be a job for another day.

7.  Sweep Down the Cobwebs along the Ceilings – running the broom along the ceiling in your spare time will save you a few minutes when you get to the vacuuming and dusting of any given room.

8.  Pick Up a Room (one of your less messy ones) – if your room looks like a cyclone went through and you only have 5 minutes to work on it, you may want to try a different room.  I like to keep the public areas of our house picked up just in case someone stops by unexpectedly.

9.  Make your Bed – my mom has done this every day for as long as I can remember, I’m still working on it.

10.  Clean Out your Purse – my purse is the collection plate for everything but money!!  In 5 minutes, I can get all the receipts, wrappers, and unnecessaries out of my purse and into the garbage.

11.  Pull Weeds – this one gets me into trouble because 1 weed leads to the next which leads to the next and so on.  I find myself spending much more than 5 minutes out in the flower beds, but I can at least tidy one up in that amount of time.

12.  Empty the Various Trashes and Take them Out – I grab a garbage bag and carry it around the house.

13.  Clean the Coffee Pot – a little distilled vinegar swished around in the coffee pot does wonders for the looks of it.

14.  Write a Thank You Note – this can be in the actual form of a note or an e-mail.  Either way, they are great to send and great to receive.

15.  Make Sandwiches to Freeze – I did a whole post on the convenience of make-ahead sandwiches.  Making sandwiches in your 5 spare minutes would be a great way to spend your time!

16.  Wash a Few Windows – I know you can’t get through all the windows in your house in 5 minutes but start with the dirtiest and work your way around the house.

17.  Sort Through the Mail – I get mail build-up on my island or desk. This is a perfect time to sort through it and pitch the junk mail.

18.  Clean the Microwave – I use a mixture of vinegar and water and run my microwave for 5 minutes… this loosens up the dried on gunk.

19.  Wipe Down your Kitchen or Dining Room Chairs – the chairs we use at the table always need a good wipe down.  This is not one of my favorite jobs but knowing I can start and finish it in 5 minutes helps.

20.  Throw a Quick Meal in the Crock-Pot – I love a quick meal… here are a few crockpot ideas:  Two Ingredient Crock Pot Chicken, Baked Potato Bar, and Two Ingredients Sweet Kielbasi.

21.  Read to your Child – if your children are little, you can get through a picture book in 5 minutes easily.

22.  Put on Some Makeup, Brush your Hair, and Teeth – I always try to spruce up before My Better Half gets home.  When you spend 5 minutes this way, your man will be grateful and you will feel better about yourself.

23.  Delete Emails from your Inbox – you know the e-mails that I’m talking about…the ones that you are certain you have unsubscribed from but you keep getting them!!

24.  Do a Quick Devotional – the Saving4Six family is using New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional now and we really like it.

25.  Sit Down and Have an Intentional Conversation with one of your Kiddos – you may say that 5 minutes is not enough…you’re right!!  BUT…5 minutes is a good place to start!

So those are my 5-minute tasks.  I hope they help you make better use of your time and have some extra time to spend with your kiddos before they are gone!

Make Memories,