20 Minute Clean-Up

Every now and then I come up with something that’s REALLY good.

Most of the time I come up with good ideas and they’re good for a little while and then our needs and abilities change and we need a new idea. (Sometimes I come up with ideas that seem good at first glance but really aren’t feasible but that’s beside the point..)

But every now and then I think up a real golden nugget of an idea.

This is one of those golden nugget ideas. I really think so. I give you our:

20 Minute Clean-Up

The basic idea is simple, really. Set the timer for 20 minutes and clean. But it’s bigger than that. The rest of the idea (the golden nugget part) is that you give your children, and yourself, a specific task or tasks to do during the 20 minutes– and then whatever time is left before the timer goes off is theirs to keep. To read or sit or whatever. I cannot assign more tasks or anything until the timer goes off.

What?!

I know. Sounds crazy. But stick with me, okay? Don’t give up on me yet.

Here’s why this is so great:

• Manageable Pieces – 20 minutes is a manageable chunk of time for children to clean without overloading their brain and inducing resistance and whining.
• Manageable Tasks – specific tasks suitable for their age and ability allows the child to focus only on the task(s) at hand, not the whole list of everything that needs to be done that day.
• Time Management – HOW MANY times a day do you find yourself saying, “If you’d just hurry up and get it done it would be over with.” ? My children are actively learning that the longer they spend on the task, the less time left over at the end of 20 minutes, the faster they get it done the more time they have to themselves.
• Work Ethic – The kids are encouraged to do their best and work hard first, then enjoy a rest after. They’re learning how to mop, vacuum, fold, etc.  They’re working together for the purpose of keeping our house picked up – just because it’s the right thing to do and not for reward of money, bribery, or threats of punishment.
• Built In Breaks – If you need to repeat back to back 20 minute clean-ups, the kids have built in “breaks” with their leftover time so they feel ready to begin the next 20 minute session — again with no whining.
• Work gets done faster – It really does. The kids and I, working in the four main living areas simultaneously, can completely tidy the house in 20 minutes. We can clean the house well in one hour (3 sessions.) The lack of whining, feet dragging and bickering that normally slows us down helps us get more work done in less time.
• Kids work independently – Before this method, the kids did not work well without my husband or I standing in the same room, micro-managing. I despise micro-managing. I ADORE knowing that they are working, really working, in one room while I’m getting work done in another.

Can you see how good this is?! We’ve been doing this for about six weeks now and IT IS BEAUTIFUL. I can’t tell you how good this has been for us! So far I’ve used this tactic at random times here and there. At least once a day most days. 2 or 3 times a day on Saturdays for work days.

I’ve been trying to add the 20 minute clean-up to our regularly daily schedule — after breakfast, lunch and supper. I haven’t been able to stick to it, so for the month of March we’re going to be working on that habit. I’ve added alarms to my cell phone to remind me. 😉 Now we’re not only training ourselves to clean quickly and efficiently but we’re setting good habits of cleaning up immediately after meals and keeping the house picked up throughout the day.

More beauty.

Here’s how we implement this plan here at our house:

• Call for 20-minute clean up (this was explained beforehand, what I expected, how it was going to go, etc.)
• Assign tasks.
  • For random clean-ups I look around to see what needs to be done and assign things to do. I give tasks that I expect to take about ten-fifteen minutes, less if they hurry, longer if they dawdle.
  • For regular after meal clean ups I have zones assigned. They rotate zones after each meal so that by the end of the day everyone has cleaned each zone. (Except me, I do the kitchen each time.)
• Set the timer.
• Work on your task while the kids work on theirs. Feel free to call out time remaining a couple of times, or call out and ask your kids how it’s going. Or you may actually need to step away from your task and teach a child how to do something. It’s fine! Teaching is good. Then get back to work. Lead by example and work hard.
• Expect, require, good effort. When they kids say they’re done with their tasks, I run and check. If it’s not good enough, I point out what’s left and ask them to finish. This prevents rushing through with sloppy jobs to earn more free time.
• Expect, require, participation. Younger children who throw a fit, older children who want to be lazy, need to be gently reminded that we all have to work together and that it’s not optional. I’ve only had this happen twice! I reminded them that the earlier they finished the more time they would earn. I also informed them that if they didn’t finish because they didn’t try, they would have to keep working until it was done, however long they made it take.
• Discipline for defiance/disobedience – ONCE. One time I had to discipline the 5yo for defiance and refusing to clean in the middle of a clean up session. I gave him a 5 minute time out right then. That means he also lost 5 minutes of cleaning time and as a result had no leftover time when he was done with his task. The next time he started to complain I reminded him and he has worked with us ever since.
• “Reward” hard work – The kids are not penalized for not finishing their tasks in 20 minutes if they really did work hard. It doesn’t happen often but it has a few times. I don’t require that they keep working once the timer is up, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by my kids a few times when they stuck with the task until it was completed, despite the empty timer. =) When this does happen, though, I give a 5 minute break before starting another 20 minute clean-up (if we need to.)
• Encourage and praise your children. You have an opportunity here to TEACH your children (how to clean, how to have good habits, how to work hard.) Make the most of that. Wrapping that up with a “Y’all did a good job, the house looks great!” or “We got that done so fast without whining, I’m so proud!” will really help to seal the deal.

This is really the most simple idea ever, isn’t? But yet so laden with great things for my kids to learn and practice.

I’m starting to feel a bit like an infomercial: “Yes, YOU TOO can get your kids to clean! Act now and never listen to a whine again!”

Well.. at least not a whine about chores. =p There’s one more thing I want to give you. The next question to ask is:

“What kind of tasks are age appropriate? And what about littles?”

First, YES, your littles can do this, too! 2-5 year olds can help mom with her tasks, or even an older sibling. Give them something specific to do. Here are a few suggestions:

• Cleaning off light switches & doorknobs with a step, a cloth and a small spray bottle of your favorite preschooler safe cleaner–kill those germs! (We use Nature’s Source)
• Wiping down the front of stoves/dishwashers/lower cabinets.
• dusting the tv screen
• checking under furniture for ‘lost’ items
• wiping down dining chairs

My 5 year old is often assigned many of the above and also:

• cleaning off the dining room table (yes, he takes dishes to the sink and returns stray items wherever they go!)
• cleaning under couch cushions
• tidying and wiping down the bathroom sink/counter
• cleaning in his room
• he’s learning to sweep (but needs a little help)

The 7 year old is given tasks such as:

• Cleaning sinks and mirrors
• Sweeping and mopping
• Cleaning the microwave
• Vacuuming
• Starting/switching loads in the washing machine/dryer
• Folding clothes

The 10 year old is given tasks like the above for the 7 yr old and also:

• Scrubbing toilets and tubs
• Organizing and other tasks requiring more attention to detail
• Putting dishes away and other tasks requiring more height (and more care)
• Cleaning/oiling wood furniture
• Sacking up and emptying trash

How do I decide to assign tasks? For regular clean ups, as I mentioned, they have assigned zones (rooms). If a zone still looks clean and picked up since the previous clean-up (which you’ll find happens A LOT when you do this regularly throughout the day.. HUH.. IMAGINE THAT..) I can assign a couple of  ‘other’ tasks for deeper cleaning, like dusting, vacuuming and toilet scrubbing. I just pick some things that need to be done.

Our house is staying CLEANER than it ever has before!

Messes still happen. Things still get left out from time to time. I’m working on cleaning up messes right away and reminding kids to put things away but at least once a day we have a REAL,  ‘Good Effort’ clean up that makes a whirlwind of a difference in just a few minutes.

It still surprises me how much work we can get done so quickly.

Yesterday we cleaned for an hour, 3 sessions back to back (because my Dad was coming so we did yesterday instead of today.) In ONE HOUR we: tidied the living room, vacuumed (under the furniture and couch cushions, too), cleaned off & wiped down the dining room table and chairs, swept & mopped the dining room, tidied the bathroom, cleaned the mirror and sink, scrubbed the toilet and tub, swept and mopped the bathroom and hallway, unloaded/reloaded the dishwasher, washed hand dishes, cleaned the stove and counters, scrubbed the sink, swept and mopped the kitchen, emptied the trash and the kids cleaned in their bedrooms for 20 minutes.

Maybe that’s normal for your house but up until six weeks ago that could have easily taken us the majority of the day.

Gone is the whining. No more nagging, begging, threatening or bribing. For the first time ever I have what I have always wanted — chores getting done JUST BECAUSE it needs to be done, family members working simultaneously in different rooms, everybody working together.

I am thrilled!!

AND ONE MORE PERK – I no longer feel like housework is competing with school work. Which is just such a big, big relief. Twenty minutes after breakfast, or after lunch is enough to tidy up and get right back to school. Keeping the house picked up more throughout the day relieves me of the pressing feeling that I need to be working on housework while the kids are doing school. I can’t tell you how much of a weight that has taken off of my shoulders!

I hesitate to even share this with you because every time I share a golden nugget on my blog it seems to suddenly go bust in my home. But we’ve been doing this for six weeks now. It’s stuck, it’s stayed, and I really hope that it helps somebody else out there. It’s working for us. I hope it works for you, too!

Part of my 3 in 30 journey and also linked to Works for Me Wednesday and Helpful Homeschool Hints.

Image Credit: Some rights reserved by Theresa Thompson

P.S. This post contains amazon affiliate links. Every penny goes toward homeschool curriculum.