The 5-minute clean routine

Are you upset about the toys, books, clothes and other stuff strewn about your house? Do neglected sinks, bathtubs and floors give you a depressed feeling?

Most of us feel much better when our homes are clean, clutter-free and ready for guests to show up. But our busy lifestyles are forcing most of us to do less cleaning.

Tubs of toys, piles of clothes and books piled next to chairs can take an emotional toll on a family.

While almost everybody — and every family — experiences this sooner or later, there's a not-so-difficult solution: Carve your cleaning time into 5-minute tasks you can do quickly and consistently.

Here's how:

• Learn to spot two separate 5-minutes chores in each room. For example, before you leave the kitchen, put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Or, grab an armful of newspapers to carry to the recycling bin in the garage.

• Train yourself to straighten in segments. Grab dirty towels in each bathroom and toss them into the laundry room. Quickly put fresh towels on the towel bars from the linen closet.

• Declutter at every opportunity. While your shower is heating up, take dwindling bars of soap, old razors and washcloths out of the shower stall. Throw them into the sink and deal with them after your shower.

• Ask your family members to do 5-minute chores. This includes carrying the kitchen garbage bag to the garage, going outside to grab the mail, dusting the TV cabinet.

Cleaning in 5-minute intervals won't make the clutter in your house instantly disappear, but over time it can help you shrink the piles to nothing. That, in turn, allows you to clean a bit faster, because you don't have time-consuming obstacles in your way.

It also helps cleaning seem less overwhelming.

You can fold a load of laundry while you're talking on the phone, wipe out the fridge when you're waiting for the pasta to boil, sweep the front porch when you get the mail.

You'll notice that your 5-minute chores are adding up, and you'll form the habit of good housekeeping.