Do you ever find yourself scrolling through Pinterest for décor inspiration and find yourself feeling envious of the images of perfectly organized and tidy homes? 

I feel you.

I admit that I would love for my home to look like this and for my kitchen to have this luxurious minimalist look and lighting. However, that is not my current reality. 

The picture above is more like it.

But, I love the cozy vibes we have created in our home and keeping my home tidy has been engrained in me since I was a little girl.

My father, a dentist, is used to things being sterilized and extremely organized. When it comes to my love for color coding and making sure my closet is organized, its because of him. He taught us to make our bed every morning and to make sure the fringes on our rugs are straight when we vacuum them. And I am so grateful for that. 

One thing he didn’t teach me though is the amazingly simple habit I now call, The 10 Minute Tidy.

I found out about while waiting to have my hospital card renewed at the Royal Victoria Hospital at the top of University street in Montreal. This was over a decade ago. Long before we heard of Marie Kondo’s joy of tidying up!

I picked up one of the outdated and worn magazines. An issue of Canadian Living if my memory isn’t mistaken. A single paragraph described the idea of taking 10 minutes out of each day to tidy up your home.

It has stuck with me ever since. 

Each day, be it at the beginning, the middle, or the end, I take a few minutes to put things back in their place. With Alicia now creating trails of toys around the house, The 10 Minute Tidy is my way of staying sane! I usually do one right after I put her down for a nap. That way, she starts with a clean house to mess up once she awakens and mama gets a few squats in while picking things up off the ground!

She’s napping right now and just before putting her down, I took out the vacuum to quickly clean the sand off the entrance carpet and some cobwebs off the window frame—gross perhaps, but that’s the reality of living in the country so if you’re thinking of making a move up North as many people are, know that there will be spiders, black flies, and mice in and around your house. I digress.

This simple tip can be the difference between letting things accumulate and feeling completely overwhelmed and feeling on top of things in different areas of your life. You can bring the idea of a 10 Minute Tidy to many things: writing emails, preparing lunch the night before, meditating, taking a nap, walking briskly around the block—it’s amazing what you can do in 10 minutes!

Try it out! 

Start by setting a timer and see how much you tidy within that time. Eventually it will become second nature and you won’t have to set a timer. However, I still occasionally do for the fun of a challenge and to prevent me from going over board when there are other things to tackle in the day, as there always is—except for days or afternoons that I dedicate to taking care of the home entirely which I also recommend that you set time out for. I block out an afternoon each week for this.

Preparing dinner in a clean home is one of life’s beautiful gifts. And although it is amazing to have someone else do it, there is a sense of connection and satisfaction that comes from using your hands and heart to take care of the roof you have over your head. Not only is it a great way to sweat it out and clear your mind, you may find that you appreciate your home more when you give it daily TLC.

Now to get your family on board, well, that’s a topic for another day…