25 Household Chores You Can Do in 5 Minutes or Less

This week we had some very welcome, but very unexpected visitors. It was around 9am, and some sweet former neighbors stopped by as a surprise…and boy, was I surprised!

You see, we'd returned home from a trip three days before, and the morning I woke up, I was barely able to move. I had terrible neck pain and shoulder pain and back pain and…well, you get the idea. My house looked like we'd been shooting t-shirt cannons, having food fights, and racing feral animals around the living room. It was bad, people. And while in MY opinion my excuses were excellent, that didn't hide the fact that my guests were a wee bit uncomfortable and I was a wee bit embarrassed. We have a lot of systems in place that help things not to get too bad, but it was still bad enough to make me cringe.

I work two jobs from home and homeschool three kids with a toddler and a baby. Add in a mommy who can't move very well, and it's easy to go from kind-of-okay to call-the-fire-marshall faster than you can say “I need chocolate.”

My…er, situation with the lovely neighbors inspired me to come up with a list of chores that I (or the kids) could accomplish quickly. So here it is – every time we realize we have time on our hands, we pick one of these jobs and knock it out. My kids can be overwhelmed by huge jobs, but choosing one of these 5 minute chores is very doable and definitely lends to a sense of accomplishment when it's done. My house is relatively clean (even though I'm not quite at my best), and we spend about 15 minutes on these little tasks every day to keep us on track!

1. Scrub a pot hanging out by the sink
2. Wipe down kitchen appliances
3. Clean out one drawer in the kitchen
4. Clean the top of the fridge
5. Change the sheets on one bed
6. Clean out a dresser drawer
7. Clean out your jewelry box
8. Clean 3 windows
9. Clean a toilet
10. Sweep your bathroom
11. Throw out expired medicine
12. Wipe down washer and dryer
13. Sort a load of laundry or two
14. Pre-treat a pile of stained clothes
15. Fold a load of laundry
16. Clean door handles and lightswitch plates
17. Vacuum one room
18. Empty the trash
19. Purge 5 pieces of clothing
20. Purge 5 unused/broken toys
21. Purge 5 pieces of paperwork
22. Dust a ceiling fan
23. Clean 2-3 mirrors
24. Clean one drawer/bin in refrigerator
25. Clean one shelf in your pantry

Those are the jobs we've been able to finish in 5 minutes or less so far. If you have more, I'd love for you to add them in the comments!