Little messes and tasks really have a way of piling up. One of the ways I keep these messes from getting totally out of hand is to do what I call: “Yes And” Cleaning.
Allow me to explain.
A lesson from improv
For a short season of my life, I joined a little improv class at a local theater. It was very fun, and taught me one of the most helpful phrases I know: yes and.
Every improv alum will know the phrase yes and. This is the idea that you always say yes to an idea an acting partner suggests, and you add to that suggestion. Saying “yes and” keeps the scene moving.
For example:
If your scene partner says: “Whoa, that’s a mighty big boa constrictor wrapped around your arm!”
You don’t say: “There’s no boa constrictor on my arm.”
That’s a great way to kill a scene.
But you might say: “Oh, this little lady?! This is Annabelle. Isn’t she the prettiest thing? She’s my dearest friend in the world. She and I learned how to eat solids together.”
Saying “yes, and” keeps the scene moving. Saying no halts the scene in its tracks. Agreeing with your partner, but not adding anything, doesn’t help the keep the scene moving.
I often think of this rule when I am moving about my house.
Yes and.
This is how I feel when I am yes and-ing around the house.
Yes And Cleaning in action
Let’s say I’m taking a washcloth to the dirty laundry bin. If I notice a pair of dirty socks strewn in the hallway, I’m going to pick those up and take them with me. Yes and.
Maybe I’m putting a notebook away, and when I pick it up off the kitchen table, I notice a baseball hat that has also been left behind. I’ll grab the notebook, the hat, and maybe some other out of place items, and take them all to their homes.
Simply put, I say “yes and” to little tasks throughout the day. I do the little task I see, and check to see if I can do another little task alongside it. Saying “yes and” keeps things moving in my house.
As I was typing this post, I took a bathroom break. When I was washing my hands, I did a little wipe down of the faucet (while my hands were already wet and soapy). As I did that, I noticed a washcloth I left on the counter last night. I also noticed my daughter’s jewelry box, a toy teapot, a toilet paper tube, and an empty glass bottle that I had rinsed out, but recycled. When I was done washing my hands, I grabbed the jewelry box and teapot in one hand, the washcloth and recycling in the other hand, and took everything to it’s rightful place before I came back to the computer. It took me less time than it took me to type about doing it.
Of course, I should have dealt with all those things yesterday, when they were left there the first time, but better today than tomorrow. It’s never too late to say “yes and”.
The One-Minute Rule
I have often heard cleaning and organizing gurus talk about the “one minute rule”. If a task takes less than a minute: Do it now! This is fantastic. Put the washcloth in the dirty laundry, don’t just leave it on the counter. Hang up your coat, rather than throwing it over the back of the couch. Load the dishes into the dishwasher, rather than setting them in the sink.
This rule is basically imagining what your mother would say if she was watching you go about your day. “Put your backpack and shoes away when you come home from school! Don’t just leave them on the entryway floor!”
Cass from Clutterbug has a fun post on the one-minute rule (including a list of real tasks that take one minute or less!) She suggests timing yourself doing various tasks. You’ll be shocked at how little time most housekeeping tasks really take.
Doing these things right away takes so little time, and prevents a pile up of these tiny tasks at the end of the day.
This is what my dresser looked like after a week of NOT yes and-ing.
By adding an “and”, you can knock out another small task, and really start to get some momentum. The truth is, most of the “ands” take very little extra time, but have a noticeable cumulative effect throughout the day.
The more I say “yes and” the more I want to find “ands”. I start to see the dent I am making in the little messes, and the momentum builds. It becomes almost like a game to me when I am having an especially and-filled day, like a fun version of a body in motion staying in motion.
Easy ways to say “Yes and” in your home
The truth is, you can’t make a to-do list of yes and cleaning tasks. The nature of these things is noticing them and knocking them out as they come. But here are some ideas of how it might look in real life.
- Grab an extra out of place item when putting something away.
- Wipe down the sink when washing your hands.
- If you walk past a basket of clean laundry, grab something to fold and put away. (For me, this is usually a kitchen towel or a bib – very easy to find and fold and bring back to the kitchen with me.)
- Wipe down an extra surface when wiping the kitchen table after a meal.
- When you are cutting vegetables for lunch, cut some extra for tomorrow’s lunch.
- When putting your dish in the dishwasher, look for other dishes you can load at the same time.
A gift to your future self
These little yes and cleaning tasks throughout the day are like little gifts to your future self. Do these things now, and reap the rewards later. Enjoy a tidier house. Enjoy a task already completed. Enjoy the momentum.
The beautiful thing about the yes and cleaning mentality is that it becomes a habit – an autopilot way of taking care of little things. Of course, some days your yes and may not be working as well, and many days your family will make more “ands” than you can seem to keep up with, but I promise the momentum will build and you WILL make a dent.
Looking to make a dent in your decluttering? Check out this post about decluttering in the margins. No full-day overhaul required here!