Organizing your home doesn’t have to be time-intensive or require a complete overhaul overnight. I’m a big fan of micro-organizing projects that can take 10-minutes or less. They’re manageable, sustainable, and easy to fit into a busy schedule.
So, turn on your favorite music playlist or listen to the latest podcast and try these 10-minute organizing projects. They can help you get one step closer to a tidy, clutter-free home.
1 | Organize the inside of your car.
If you’re a mom, then you know how quickly the inside of your car can become cluttered! Besides giving your car a wash and a good vacuuming, you can better organize the stuff inside to simplify your life.
Organize places like the glove box, center console, and the trunk. As you organize what you do have, consider what you don’t have in the car that might make your life easier.
I recently added a couple of things that have made my life easier. After a quick trip to the Dollar Tree, I brought home a spiral bound notebook and a pack of crayons that I now keep in the pocket of the passenger seat for my daughter to use anytime she’s bored. It stays in the car, so I don’t have to worry about the need to bring it inside.
I also recently added this $7 car trash can (not an affiliate link) before a road trip to the grandparent’s house and it’s a game-changer! Not only is the price great but so is the usability. It’s wipeable, has a low profile, and has Velcro at the bottom for easy emptying.
2 | Organize your fridge, freezer, and/or pantry.
This is a great 10-minute organizing project to tackle over the weekend. It will help you to reset for the week ahead and give you more space to put away any groceries that you pick up over the weekend.
To begin organizing your fridge, freezer, or pantry, take everything out so you can wipe down the inside. Then put back only what you need.
Throw out old food. Place any unwanted dry goods that aren’t expired in a bag to donate to a food pantry. As you put back the food that you want to keep, organize it.
You don’t need to color-code everything or purchase fancy bins and baskets to organize your stuff. The act of weeding out the unwanted items can free up space to easily put back the items you’ll keep in an organized manner. Sometimes all it takes is creating zones – specific spaces where items of a certain category belong.
READ ALSO: Organize a Small Kitchen on a Budget
3 | Organize under the kitchen sink.
The area under the kitchen sink may be used often yet not get much attention. In general, I don’t recommend purchasing organizing products, but this may be an area that requires unique organizing items. It all depends on how much space you actually have to work with under the kitchen sink. It also depends on the location of the pipes.
That said, it’s still a worthwhile endeavor to spend 10 minutes organizing underneath the sink. You may have things down there that you didn’t know were there. Perhaps you can even streamline your dish washing process by knowing clearly where all of your supplies are.
4 | Organize your medicine or first aid supplies.
Collect all of your medicine and first aid supplies into one area. Take just 10 minutes to discard expired medicine, outdated items, or empty containers. Then, organize the supplies by type (band-aids, thermometers, cold & flu medicine, pain relief medicine, etc.) with a Ziploc bag that’s labeled or by sectioning them out.
Personally, I like to keep all of our medicine and first aid supplies in a large basket on the top shelf of our pantry. That way, it’s easily accessible when a family member gets sick (mainly one of my kids) and all of the supplies needs to fit inside the one basket. This simplifies our medical supplies.
5 | Organize your junk drawer.
An easy way to have an organized junk drawer is to get drawer organizers and sort the “junk” by type. Don’t have drawer organizers? You can still achieve a neat junk drawer simply by decluttering it.
Set the timer for 10 minutes and work as fast as you can to declutter the items that are trash or belong somewhere else. In the end, you’ll certainly gain some extra space in the drawer!
6 | Organize your kitchen countertops.
The kitchen countertops are a major clutter magnet in our home! Is it that way in your home?
Since it’s the center of a lot of activity it only makes sense that a lot of random stuff ends up on your kitchen counters.
In just 10 minutes you can quickly put your kitchen countertops in order. Even if you end up with a few tidy piles instead of a blank slate, it definitely counts as progress! However, you may find that you need to declutter some items on your kitchen countertops. Even if it’s just putting things away.
READ ALSO: How to Clear Kitchen Counter Clutter in 5 Quick Steps
7 | Organize the bathroom drawers and under the bathroom sink.
Maybe you have a different drawer for each family member. Maybe you have a different drawer or cabinet for each category of bathroom items.
Whichever way that you prefer to organize the stuff in your bathroom, go through drawer-by-drawer or cabinet-by-cabinet to tidy things up a bit.
Wipe down the inside of the drawers. Throw out any trash. Give away any extra product samples or travel-sized items to a homeless shelter.
If you aren’t able to tackle the entire bathroom in 10 minutes you can at least organize a few drawers or cabinets.
READ ALSO: How to Declutter Your Bathroom – Toss These 20 Things Today!
8 | Organize the dresser drawers.
An organized closet is one of the best ways to streamline your morning.
In this 10-minute organizing project, go through all of the dresser drawers in your closet. Tidy up the t-shirts, under garments, socks, pajamas, athletic wear, swimsuits, etc.
If you have more than 10 minutes, you could tackle the entire closet! Here are a few closet decluttering tips if you need help decluttering.
READ ALSO: Organize a Small Closet on a Budget in 5 Simple Steps
9 | Organize the laundry area.
Honestly, organizing the laundry area may first include actually folding the clothes. Once that’s done, your job may be more than half done, depending on the state of your laundry area.
This 10-minute organizing project can also have a beneficial impact on your week ahead since the clean laundry will be folded and the area will be neat and tidy.
Go through your laundry supplies and tidy up the detergent, dryer sheets, dryer balls, stain remover, fabric softener, and all other items.
READ ALSO: 7 Quick Tips to Reduce the Laundry Load
10 | Organize your drop zone or entryway.
Take 10 minutes to make your entryway or your drop zone neat and clean. Put items that don’t belong there back in their place. Organize the coats, shoes, hats, umbrellas, and bags. Make sure that there’s a place for your smaller items like sunglasses, keys, and wallets, if that’s applicable.
While you’re at it, assess the number of those items and consider how many truly need to be there. Maybe some of the shoes could be stored in another spot, like the closet, to reduce the total amount that’s kept in the drop zone.
READ ALSO: How to Declutter a Drop Zone for Streamlined Efficiency
Which will you try this weekend?
I hope you enjoyed these 10-minute organizing projects. Which of these areas need the most attention in your home right now? Chime in in the comments below!
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