Everyone can find 15 minutes in their day to do a little extra straightening up beyond putting dishes in the dishwasher or sweeping the kitchen floor. If you use those 15 minutes every day for a week, imagine the things you could get done.

Here are 5 things you can do this week—in 15 minutes or less – to get the clutter under control in your house. 

1)      Straighten up a book shelf. Return misplaced books to their shelf. Toss or repair a tattered book. Make a pile of books to donate to the library book sale and tidy up the rest of the shelf. Don’t forget to give it a quick dust, too, to protect your books from damage.

2)      Clean out the junk drawer. Everyone has one and it has a purpose, but it shouldn’t be a catch-all for your mystery items. If yours is overflowing to the point where it gets stuck trying to open and close, then it’s time to declutter the junk drawer. Replace stray game pieces to their home, toss out trash, figure out if the pens work, and sharpen the pencils.

3)      Donate old clothes. Start at one end of your closet and pull out items you no longer wear. We all have items in our closet that we no longer like or don’t fit that we could donate or discard. We all like to shop and buy new things, but few of us stick to the one-in-one-out philosophy (that is, if you buy something new, you should toss or donate something else in your wardrobe.) So, make sure you don’t skip out on the bi-annual closet purge. Have a bag handy to pile your donations in and then plop them in your car for an easy drop-off.

4)      Ditch stuff from the desk. Got papers piling up like The Leaning Tower of Pisa? Attack it one pile at a time and commit to finding a home to the paper (a file folder, the trash, or find its rightful owner) instead of making several small piles. Commit to touching each paper one time and one time only to take action instead of just re-shuffling the paper clutter around.

5)      Pick a bathroom sink. The cabinets underneath the bathroom sink often has some of the best storage space, but often are just a jumbled mess. In just 15 minutes of less you can make neat piles of toilet paper (Who knew four rolls could hide underneath a pile of towels?), toss empty toothpaste containers, and refold a few bath sheets. Imagine how tidy your kids’ bathroom can be if you organize while they brush? Every good mom can organize and nag about dental hygiene simultaneously.