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43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Real Simple: 19-minute daily cleanup

Real Simple | Cleaning | The Keep-It-Clean Plan

As the far less tidy half of the two vertebrates on our lease, I shouldn’t have been surprised to find this article printed out and gently wedged into the single clear spot on my office desk. It outlines a straightforward daily cleaning regimen that beats back the squalor on an economical 19 minutes a day.

Here’s the Family Room/Living Room/Foyer daily routine (clocking in at a manageable 6 minutes)

Start with the sofa — as long as it’s in disarray, your living room will never look tidy. Once you’ve fluffed the pillows and folded the throws, you’re halfway home. If you pop in a CD while you dust, you should be able cover the whole room by the end of the third track.

  • Pick up crumbs and dust bunnies with a handheld vacuum (one minute).
  • Fluff the cushions and fold throws after use (two minutes).
  • Wipe tabletops and spot-clean cabinets when you see fingerprints (one minute).
  • Straighten coffee-table books and magazines. Throw out newspapers. Put away CDs and videos. (Two minutes.)

I’ll also use this as the opportunity to reluctantly confess that I love (and currently subscribe to) Real Simple. It really appeals to the productivity pr0n nerd in me (plus I enjoy the Martha-riffic pastels and airy layouts). There. I’ve said it. You happy now?

[Link via the very subtle (and tidy) Ms. Madeline Stiness]

Judine's picture

I'm ambivalent about Real Simple....

I'm ambivalent about Real Simple. I like it for the same reasons you do, but as part of its target market, (40 something woman) I am amazed at the expensive products it often promotes in the name of simplifying ($300 purses; $80 face creams), and I don't trust that their product reccomendations are not driven by advertisers, as with any other mag. As for Flylady, you're just coming from a different culture. The Flylady people wouldn't take much to the style at 43folders I imagine either. Relatedly, I'd like to take a risk and say something that's been on my mind for a while. I'm sure that it isn't intentional, but sometimes I get the feeling that the male organizing geeks think they've invented lifehacks when women have been talking and writing about them for years. I can't help but wonder if organizing, life hacking etc. hasn't become cool only because men have decided it's important. With apologies to all those here, whom I love and respect....

 
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