There is a site on line that encourages moms to fly through their homes. In the baby steps of the program one  is introduced to a timer.  A challenge is given – Keep a Clipboard – and a Timer handy. Each time you perform a task – time how long it took.

The theory tested during the challenge – is that procrastination is often blamed on lack of time.

The most staggering time blaming procrastinator?  Sheet Changing. It took less than 3 minutes to flip the sheets on a bed.  Something like 2 Mins 20 seconds. Seriously.

Looking over the list and the times on the challenges and one could clearly see that the Lack of Time is really not to blame for procrastination – the Waste of Time is. And not volumes – but the minutes. The waiting times. The Idle.

So I introduce you to my morning routine.  Hubby comes home late, so we rarely sparkle up the house before bed time.  I sort of shut off chores around 3, maybe 4 except for lawn work. In that time – the boys got out a box of rocket supplies, we leave our nature journals and books piled high, and various arts and crafts get scattered about.

We have this awesome counter in the dining room that holds our linens, board games and coffee supplies. I am the only one that drinks coffee here, so I like my little 4 cup pot. I usually have to wade through the carnage of whatever project interested the boys the night before. Many days – I leave it for them to pick up first thing, but today, for the sake of Web-O-Vision – I will do it for them.

So the start time is 12:46, (wonder how much time it takes to change the clock to the time which was about 6:45?) you will see by the photos below – what the kitchen looked like after late night snacks and late evening meals.  I decided to tackle the kitchen instead of the dining room, as today is hubby’s day off and I’d like him to wake to fresh counters.

I hear the coffee in the last stages of perk – and check the time –

7 minutes – with photos being taken – gets the kitchen to this stage:

But since this is Hubby’s Day Off – and we have a Service Opportunity in town at 9:30 a.m., and for the sake of Blog-O-Vision – I go ahead and let the coffee warm, and take it to the next stage –

Now – I can rest, check in on Facebook, read and comment on a few blogs, I’ve already done some personal reading this morning before I left my bedroom – and as the family each wakes up – they will walk through a clean home.  The son that has Kitchen Duty left the dishwasher empty by the time he went to bed for the evening – and he will unload the washer when he wakes up. The son that has floors and garbage will empty the garbage and quick mop the floor when he comes up stairs. You can see from the clock on the coffee pot – that it only took 7 more minutes – to get the kitchen to a “company ready” stage. I also cleared off the table – so that we’d be able to eat breakfast.

What do you wait for in the morning? Tea Water? Dialup? Emails to load? What ways could you be blessing your home, praying for those chairs, praying for those meals, enjoying the morning as you serve the family – besides staring at the coffee pot?

This article was written for At The Christian Home – for the Housekeeping Section.