Few people actually enjoy all the tasks that fall under the umbrella of cleaning the kitchen. In addition to doing the dishes it’s a million other tiny things that need to be put away, wiped down, discarded, composted, recycled, and swept or dusted. It’s an avalanche of tiny chores that can sometimes feel so overwhelming it’s easier to just not do them at all.
But what if there was a way to get some of them done, some of the time? Give yourself a break from the pressure to tackle every task every day. Tackling a few of those chores on some days will help you end up with a kitchen that’s cleaner overall in the long run.
Try this: Use what we call a “microwave minute” to tackle small chores in short bursts. Any time you run the microwave, use that time to pick one quick task that will get things just a tiny bit cleaner. (So no, not every “microwave minute” is exactly 60 seconds, but the theory still works.)
The best part of the “microwave minute” is it works even if you aren’t doing any real cooking at all — there are plenty of small kitchen cleaning tasks you can do even if all you’re doing is heating a mug of water. In fact, the only small kitchen cleaning task you can’t do during a microwave minute is wiping down the inside of the microwave.
So if the thought of cleaning your kitchen fills you with dread, here’s 27 tiny things you can do to get a cleaner kitchen in a “microwave minute.” (Spoiler: #27 is my fave).
