The New 5-Minute Habit That’s Helping Me Stay Organized

updated Jan 29, 2020

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Instead of making a New Years resolution (and feeling bad for not sticking with it), I like to pick a theme for the year instead. Last year’s theme was “calm, cool, and collected,” and if you ask anyone in my life before this, they’ll tell you that I was anything but. My 2019 ~journey~ was so successful that I decided against choosing a new theme for this year. Instead, I vowed to continue channeling the very calm, cool, and collected lessons that I learned into 2020, making the mindset a more permanent fixture in my life.

Of those “3 Cs,” the one that has helped me embody the complete trifecta the most is “collected.” For me, being collected means having my sh*t together ( at least the things I can control), and approaching stressful tasks one small chunk at a time. When I do this, I feel exponentially more calm and cool. It really works!

This month, one super-small way that I’ve incorporated this into my routine has been in the kitchen. I’ve started taking just five minutes at the end of every day to put away every single thing that’s sitting out on our dish drying rack (whether I’ve personally used it or not). Set a timer and you’ll find that five minutes might even be more than you need to finish this task!

I’ve mentioned this before, but I live in a teeny NYC apartment with two roommates whom I adore and respect. (Hello, if you are reading this.) Sharing a kitchen with three people who each have their own gadgets and groceries has its challenges, but this little cleaning ritual is just one of the ways that we make it work. Before my head hits the pillow, pans go back in their cabinet, cups go in the cupboard, unitaskers get tucked in a drawer, and cooking utensils get nestled into this giant crock we have beside the stove.

Once I complete the briefest of tasks, I can sleep like a baby knowing that at least my dish drying rack has a clean slate to start the next day. And that makes me feel really calm, cool, and collected.

Do you have any five-minute cleaning rituals? Share them in the comments below!