Timer clean ups have worked very successfully in our household. They work great for the kids and even me! What are timer clean ups you ask? It is when you set a timer for a few minutes and rush as fast as you can to pick up or clean up as much as you can before the timer goes off. I read about it in Family Fun Magazine. I am so excited about how this has been working for us!
Here is how it works in our house. I will tell the kids we need to pick up a room and ask them how long we should set the timer for. They pick the time, one rule is it has to be a minimum of one minute, there is no max. I am very impressed with what time they will pick. If it’s a fairly big mess they are pretty good about picking a longer time period. So we go into the room that needs to be picked up and decide who is picking up what. For example, in our family room we have a basket of the Disney die cast cars and a car rug out, the wii remotes scattered, the blankets and pillows on the couch in disarray and a few dishes to clear up. So we decide who will pick up the toys, wii, dishes, couch. We each take a job and set the timer for one minute. We count 1…2…3…GO!!! I set the timer and we are off. Once the timer has gone off we are usually done. The rule is the kids can stop when the timer goes off, as long as they put in a good effort. Sometimes the job is a bit bigger, it can include the whole down stairs needing a good clean up, the dishes will need to be done and maybe a laundry basket or two of clothing needs to be put away. We will then set the timer for a longer time. When the timer goes off we stop do something different for a while and then set the timer and finish. I will from time to time offer a reward for the kids, especially after a big clean up. They will receive, money, a prize (I keep a few on hand like glow bracelets, dollar crafts, dollar toys and such), a treat like banana ice cream, or a 30 minute dvd. The kids love it and we do not have any fighting, whining, crying or crabbiness. It has worked fabulously!
I will also use this for myself. Lets say I have dishes, laundry, tidying, filing, weeding, ect… The regular household chores to do. I will set the timer for 15 minutes, decide where to start and push the timer. When the timer goes of I move to the next chore no matter where I am in the current chore. A few exceptions are things like being three dishes away from starting the dishwasher type of thing, I am not that crazy strict! I will continue to move around so that it breaks up the things that need to be done and everything gets attention. It doesn’t usually take more then one or two hours depending on how bad things have gotten, to finish all my chores! It’s great! There is something about having to beat the timer that gives you a burst of energy to get it done. If you allow yourself a break when you are done then it is quite rewarding. You can even set the timer do your chore/work intervals and place some rest intervals in the middle of some of the chores. An idea would be…
If a Homemaker uses 15 minute intervals: dishes, reading, laundry, exercise, tidy up, internet time, filing, exercise again, yard work, sit with a cup of tea and a favorite magazine…
At the office use the intervals at your desk: 15 minutes phone calls, 10 minutes coffee break, 30 minutes paper work, 5 minutes stretching, 20 minutes prioritizing, 10 min reading, 60 minuets work on checking things off your task list, 10 min get up a take a brief walk…
I realize the above examples are not ideal for all situations but I think you may catch my drift. It may be worth it to try a couple times a week. I couldn’t live like that on a daily basis but I can definitely use the timer when I am in need of some motivation to get a few things caught up and taken care of.
What do you think? Could you set a timer and try this one day to see if it motivates you to get the tasks on your list done?
~Mae
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I started doing timer cleanups for myself around New Years. I’ve gotten out of the habit, but I set the timer for 30 minutes 3 time a week and cleaned as much of the house as possible during that time. I was amazed to discover that 30 minutes 3 times a week of cleaning kept the house in pretty good shape.
Great idea including the kids. Wonder if my 2 year old would go for this at all? lol