I’ve started giving myself 10 minute challenges. I set my timer for 10 minutes and tackle a household chore while my children are having a snack or lunch. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish in only 10 minutes when you focus on the task. The 10 minute challenge is a weekly feature on Mommies with Cents. Each week, I will show you one of the things I was able to accomplish in 10 minutes. I encourage you to join me- it really easy amazing what you are able to achieve, even if it’s incremental, if you set your mind (and timer!) to it!
Part of our job on this blog is reviewing products. We get a lot of neat stuff but it’s hard to find room for it all! Especially in my kitchen. Since the weather is finally starting to get nicer, a garage sale is in my sights. It’s time to go through my cupboards and get rid of the things that aren’t being used and make more room for new stuff! I’ve got to come up with creative ways to store things that don’t get used on a weekly basis. Like a turkey roasting pan for example. We don’t even cook a turkey once a year since we usually don’t spend Thanksgiving at home. I’m thinking of moving it to the linen closet. Weird, I know…but if I put it in the garage, we won’t be able to find it when we do need it. Anyways, I’ve got to start somewhere so I started with the cupboard above my sink. There was all sort of junk up there so I cleared the top shelf and decided to use it for my baking stuff- muffin tins, bread pans etc. I use them enough to keep them but don’t need easy access to them all of the time. Here’s the before:
Here’s the after (remember, I only did the top shelf, for now) I moved the cleaning supplies to the linen closet, added the dishwasher basket to the garage sale pile and recycled the aluminum muffin tin since I have actual muffin pans. Then I gathered all of my other baking stuff from other cupboards and put it on the top shelf.
Ok, so I’ll be honest, taking the stuff out, moving it and putting stuff back in took around 10 minutes but it did leave messes elsewhere. There’s a growing pile on my dining room table that needs to be moved to the garage for the garage sale but my experience is things get worse before they get better 🙂 And yes, the linen closet is going to need an overhaul when I’m done with the kitchen- it’s never ending but you’ve got to start somewhere!
I’d love to hear ways you manage your time at home with kids. Please share your tips with me and our other readers by leaving a comment, then come back next week for another 10 minute challenge!
Be sure to check out all of our other 10 minute challenge posts!
