10 minutes is plenty.

As an addendum to my post yesterday, on cleaning the working girl way, I wanted to point out that there's always a few minutes here and there, everyday, to clean and keep up with chores. There's certainly not enough time to say, organize the closet or bake a batch of cookies, but laundry can be folded and the bed can be made.

Now, my weekdays go something like this:

8.00: Wakeup. Shower, dress, make coffee, etc.
9.15ish-6.15ish, sometimes 7.00: Work. My office is about 5 miles away, and I usually go home for lunch at noon.
6.15/7.00: Home: Dinner.
8.00: Gym.
9:30: Home: Shower, tv (read: relax and decompress), snack.
11.00: Bed.

There's obviously not a lot of free time. If I'm not running late, however, I can usually find a few minutes to do something. For example, when I wake up, I can easily make the bed in under 2 minutes. Whew, the room instantly looks cleaner. The couch cushions can be fluffed on my way from the kitchen to the front door. Have a system. Dirty clothes automatically go in the hamper -- not on the floor. Empty containers go in the trash. A container of lysol wipes in the bathroom makes for a quick clean in under a minute. It isn't the end of the world if the sink holds the breakfast dishes all day, or if the coffeemaker doesn't get cleaned until the next morning. If it's important to you to have a clean place, then you'll simply just find the time. If you have a boyfriend/husband/roommate, then share the chores.

I think I'll try to clean the coffeemaker when I go home for lunch.