The 10-Minute Holiday Reset

There comes a point in the school holidays where I look around and think, Right. Someone has let this house go.

And unfortunately, that someone is me.

For me, the trouble spots are always the same: the under-the-stairs cupboard, the craft drawer, the school drawers, the pantry and the toy cupboard. Basically, every place where I’ve shoved something in and said, “I’ll deal with that later.”

Well, apparently, later has arrived.

The holidays are actually the perfect time for a little reset. Not a full “pull the whole house apart and cry” kind of reset. Just a simple clean-out so you can start the next school term feeling like a semi-functioning adult.

Start with one trouble area. Just one. Don’t get heroic. We’re not renovating the whole pantry in one afternoon.

One of my favourite tricks is the declutter game. Grab a big garbage bag and do a lap of the house. Inside, outside, bedrooms, bathroom, office, laundry, yard — wherever the chaos lives.

Empty bathroom bins. Toss old office papers. Chuck empty shampoo bottles, stained t-shirts, mismatched socks, broken toys and tired-looking books that have clearly done their time.

Have two bags going: one donate bag and one chuck bag.

And here’s the trick to getting started: set a timer for 10 minutes.

This is apparently a strategy used by PhD students when they’re trying to get going on their studies. So if it’s good enough for a PhD, it’s good enough for me standing in front of a school drawer full of dried glue sticks and mystery crumbs.

One of two things will happen. You’ll either get 10 minutes done, which is better than nothing, or you’ll get going and suddenly you’re snoozing the timer like, “No, no, I live here now. I must finish this cupboard.”

Once the chucking and donating is done, give the area a good wipe and start putting things back where they belong. File completed books, worksheets and crafts. Put away the things that have somehow migrated into random places. Why is there a ruler in the laundry? Why is there a rock in the pantry? We don’t ask questions. We just restore order.

Get the kids involved too. They can sort things into piles, put supplies away, choose toys to donate, match socks or help tidy their school things. Make it a game. Put music on. Do a time-lapse. Take before and after photos so you can admire your greatness afterwards.

Do one section a day if that’s all you can manage. That still counts.

The goal isn’t a perfect house. The goal is to stop the school drawers from attacking you when term starts again.

And if you find more than 5 rubbers, that’s basically a holiday miracle.