30+ Useful and Quick 5 Minute Tasks

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Let’s talk about tasks. Everyday home tasks. Things you need to take care of in your home.  We all have things to do but so many of us don’t want to do them.  We know they take up time to do them and we’re already tired from work and everything else we have to do like running around town getting groceries, keeping up with kids’ schedules, and figuring out dinner every night. And on top of that, we need to constantly think of all the tasks that have to get done around the home.

But who wants to do them? Things like cleaning the dishes, going through the mail, and everyday chores. Who wants to tackle any of them at the end of an already long, exhausting day? We just don’t want to commit. We think it will take a long time and we think we just don’t have any more energy left to push ourselves to do one more thing.

But what if I told you that although you may be tired and may not feel like lifting another finger to do one more thing, there are tasks you can do that honestly don’t take long. And you’ll probably spend more time talking and thinking about all the reasons why you don’t want to do something and it’ll be quicker to just get them done.  

So what are some of these tasks that we can do around our home that don’t take that long? And when I say they don’t take long, I mean it. They only take about five minutes or less. Just a few minutes per task and you’d have one less thing to do. Doesn’t that sound nice? No one wants to do a task that takes us an hour or more to complete but five minutes, that’s doable.

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Short on time? Grab your FREE checklist with all these 5-minute tasks!

Over 30 Quick 5 Minute Tasks

Load the dishwasher.  Ever time yourself doing the dishes? It doesn’t take that long if you don’t have a mountain of dishes in and around your sink. Most of the time, if you have dishes from one meal in your sink, you can get them loaded into your dishwasher in about 5 minutes. Give it a try, I think you’ll be surprised.

Wash dishes. Grab the pots and pans after dinner and get them cleaned. It shouldn’t take a lot of time. Now, if you don’t have a dishwasher and you’re washing all of your dishes by hand, this will more than likely take some time. But, can you wash dishes for 5 minutes and see where that gets you? You may get finished or have the motivation to finish the rest.

Start laundry. This is more of a mental thing. I know I don’t want to get up, gather the laundry, and start my washer. But it takes hardly any time to get the laundry in the washer and start it. Tell yourself it will be quick and get up and get it done.

Sweep a floor. Pick a room and sweep it. You can get this done in 5 minutes.

Plan for the next day. Take a few minutes and plan out tomorrow. Block out time you’ll need for your important tasks. Know how your day will go before you even begin it.

Vacuum a room.  Again pick a room and vacuum it. This is another quick job that we just have to get up, grab the vacuum, and get the job done. It will be quick.

Clean kitchen countertops. Clear the clutter and wipe them down. Now, if you have a clutter-filled kitchen and you can’t even begin to see your countertops, this may not be possible. But if you use your kitchen to cook and can actually see most of your countertops, cleaning them won’t take that long.

Throw out expired food.  Scan your refrigerator and get rid of anything that’s been buried in the back for who knows how long.  Do the same with the pantry or wherever you keep your food.  Do a quick scan and look for things you haven’t touched in over a year. 

Dust a room. You don’t need to lift up all of your knick-knacks every time you dust. Instead, do a quick dust around the room. Use a feather duster to make this super quick and easy.

Clean a bathroom sink. Just the sink. So many of us don’t want to clean the bathroom because of the time. But breaking up the tasks and cleaning the bathroom won’t feel so huge.

Clean microwave.  Heat a cup of vinegar in the microwave for 1-2 minutes and everything just wipes off. Quick and easy.

Water plants.  Grab a pitcher and feed them all.

Feed pets.  If you have them, it’s a very quick process.

Straighten up a room. Fold blankets, straighten up pillows, pick up anything on the floor, put shoes and coats back where they belong, etc.

Go through the mail. Every day, grab it and go through it. Have a place to put bills that you’ll go through each week, recycle want you don’t want, and handle everything else. Take care of it right away – have a one-touch mentality.

Chop weekly produce. Right after you get home from the grocery shopping and all the food is put away, grab your produce for the week and chop it up. When it’s all done at once, it’s quick and easy and then you have fresh vegetables ready to eat all week long.

Meal plan. Take 5 minutes and figure out what you’re going to eat for the week. Keep a handy list of meals your family likes and use that to plan your meals so you’ll have a meal plan in no time at all.

Clean out car. Grab a trash bag and get rid of all the trash. Your car will look better after a quick clean-out.

Clean out purse. Just dump everything out and only put back what you want and need. Then, throw away or relocate everything else.

Take out trash.  Dump out all of the trash in your home.  It’s a quick and easy job every time.

File papers. Gather up the papers to file and get it done. Now, If you have a system in place for papers, this should only take a couple of minutes to get your papers filed.

Clip coupons.  Take the Sunday paper and clip the coupons. It only takes a few minutes to clip them if you do them every week.

Tidy up room. Remove the clutter and breathe a sigh of relief when it’s gone. Use laundry baskets for a quick and easy declutter. Just remember to put everything away in the laundry baskets when you have time so you’ll have your baskets when it’s time to do the laundry.

Clean windows. Take 5 minutes and see how many you can clean. You probably won’t get to all of them in that short amount of time but can you start getting a few cleaned with those 5 minutes and then when you have more time, take another 5 minutes and clean some more.

Clean kitchen sink. Of course, if they’re dishes in the sink, this won’t be easy. But with an empty sink, you can clean it easily and quickly. I love Bar Keepers Friend to clean my sink and my stovetop. It’s perfect for getting burnt marks off of my stovetop and leaves my sink sparkling clean.

Clean a toilet. This is a quick job if this is all you’re cleaning in a bathroom.  But a lot of us dread this because it’s not a fun task to do. Remember it’s quick and just get it done.

Throw away 50 (or more) things. Walk around your home with a garbage bag and throw out any trash or anything that you don’t want anymore (and don’t plan on selling or donating). If there’s anything broken or you have no idea what it belongs with (and you haven’t known for some time), get rid of it. Don’t put much thought into this either.

Shred papers. Do you have a stack of papers that you’ve gathered up to shred?  Take 5 minutes and finish them.

Unload dishwasher. It’s a quick process.  I’ve timed myself and it takes me just under 5 minutes.  

Go through emails. Take 5 minutes and see how many emails you can go through and delete.  You may not get through all of them but 5 minutes here and there will eventually get you there.   

Make school or work lunches. These don’t take long to make. If you have 5 minutes in the morning, you can make one of these quickly.

Don’t forget to grab your FREE 5 Minute Tasks Checklist so you’ll remember these tasks when you need them!

Final Thoughts

When we allow ourselves to think of our tasks as only taking 5 minutes or less, we’ll be more inclined to do them.  Just knowing they won’t take up a lot of time will give us the motivation to get them done. Next time you have a few minutes to spare, do one of these tasks.  

And remember, the more often you do these 5-minute tasks will mean less work you have to do later. I like to remind myself of this when I’m lacking motivation. Keep up on your housework and you’ll be helping yourself in the long run.

So tell me, do you have any other 5 minute tasks you do around your home?

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