Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

It only takes 5 minutes

8 replies

EmpressSoleil · 03/06/2023 17:23

Not a taat but the thread about hanging washing out reminded me that I had been thinking off and on about this idea that any kind of housework job “only takes 5 minutes”. Things like cleaning up after dinner, emptying rubbish, mopping a floor etc etc.

Thing is, even if these jobs took 5 minutes they soon add up. But for me they do take longer. Take emptying rubbish. When I take the bag out I add bits from a couple of small bins elsewhere in the house, that takes time. Then taking it out is down a long flight of stairs. Then getting a clean bag, wiping the bin over. It’s at least 10 minutes. Unloading and loading the dishwasher, another 10. You get the picture.

Doing the very minimum of cleaning takes me at least an hour a day. I don’t clean up after dinner (it’s just me and adult DS here now, but he does his own cooking etc). Because I don’t want to go and spend half an hour in the kitchen cleaning after I’ve eaten. I want to just sit and relax. Luckily I wfh so I do it in the mornings. Because I don’t find any of these jobs to be a”just 5 minutes”.

I think if you can do it that quickly, you must be spending multiple times in the day keeping on top of it. Or am I just really crap at these things? I don’t know.

OP posts:
VisionsOfSplendour · 03/06/2023 17:45

How massive is your dishwasher? 10 minutes? I race the kettle each morning and it rarely takes me longer than it does to boil

With the bins I do ar ound up of all the non kitchen bins the night before bin day and it probably does take about 5 minutes. I don't need to do it every time I empty the main bin which Id say takes 3 minutes max

LaMaG · 03/06/2023 17:47

I often half do things and finish later, like empty the upstairs bins and leave on the half landing so whoever goes down next puts it into outside bin. I leave cleaning things in every room i can as I know going downstairs to get something means I won't go back. We have an upstairs and downstairs vacuum cleaner, that really helps. Wiping the sink toilet etc only takes 3/4 mins, I vacuum or mop when I'm doing those jobs elsewhere. There are probably 3 or 4 things I do a day without really counting it. 10 mins seems long for a dishwasher though. Unless you have mobility issues making everything a little trickier?

EmmaEmerald · 03/06/2023 17:50

I find these things take way more time than you might think. Is it because after years of chores, I get stuff done more slowly because of the uuuuggghhh factor?

you have my sympathies. I used to iron bedsheets! I can't believe I ever did that.

Caspianberg · 03/06/2023 18:00

I never unload and then load the dishwasher at the same time. I put the dishwasher on each evening after dinner, unload before bed, then it usually had nothing else added until Breakfast the next morning.

AutumnCrow · 03/06/2023 18:05

The vocabulary of it is interesting. Pop a load on. Bung a casserole in. Throw a salad together. Chuck it in the dishwasher. Run the hoover round. Quick dust and polish, quick shower, quick rub down, quick quick quick wiggle wiggle pop.

I can't live at that pace. I'd rather be teaching myself ancient Greek.

mondaytosunday · 03/06/2023 18:07

Well the thing about housecleaning is it has it's own time dimension. I will set about doing it and if you asked me how long I'd been at it I'd say an hour, then check the clock and it's only been 15 minutes!
But while I agree with you things take longer than the usual 'five minutes', it takes less time than I think it does. I just hate doing it so much!

reluctantbrit · 03/06/2023 18:18

I don't really time anything, no idea how long I spend on things. Bins are emptied when needed, dishwasher in the morning when I make tea.

I just do them when I have to.

Saying that, we have a cleaner so it's only the daily stuff like kitchen and laundry I really do.

VisionsOfSplendour · 03/06/2023 18:26

AutumnCrow · 03/06/2023 18:05

The vocabulary of it is interesting. Pop a load on. Bung a casserole in. Throw a salad together. Chuck it in the dishwasher. Run the hoover round. Quick dust and polish, quick shower, quick rub down, quick quick quick wiggle wiggle pop.

I can't live at that pace. I'd rather be teaching myself ancient Greek.

You've missed out grab a coffee 😂

Which is a ridiculous phrase as who would grab anything containing a boiling hot drink

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread