10 Chores You Can Whip Through During Commercials
A while back I was at my friend Allyson’s house for dinner, wine and the Downton Abbey finale. I was surprised she didn’t have a DVR (first-world problem, I know). “If I didn’t have those commercial breaks, I’d never get any of my chores done,” she explained. “When else am I going to empty the dishwasher or throw the laundry in the dryer?”
Before TiVo commercial breaks occurred about every 15 minutes and, according to Chuck Woolery, lasted two minutes, two seconds each. Today I find the almost four minutes of blaring ads every seven to eight minutes intolerable, but I realized that Allyson was onto something. When you feel as though you’ve been watching your prerecorded shows at the expense of your home’s cleanliness, don’t let yourself fast-forward through the commercials. Instead, run out of the room and get a chore done.
Here are 10 quick household tasks you can accomplish while a TV-ad lawyer is telling you to call him if you’ve been injured in an accident. If you’re not a big network-TV watcher, you can do the tasks while you’re waiting for the water to boil, the tea to brew or the microwave to nuke a Hot Pocket.
1. Empty the dishwasher. If the commercial break isn’t long enough, do half and go back at the next break, which is usually only a few minutes away.
The great thing about the TV-ad chore list is that it keeps you from being too sedentary. Yes, everyone deserves a chance to veg out and relax, but running up and down the stairs or from room to room to get this stuff done will keep your heart rate up.
Mrs. Meyer’s Lemon Verbena Countertop Spray2. Wipe down your counters. Nothing makes my kitchen smell or feel fresher than Mrs. Meyer’s spray. No, this is not a commercial in the middle of my commercial-break story; I just really love the lemon verbena. Grab a cleaning rag, clear one counter at a time and give it a wipe-down. Once this is done, you can work your way around the cabinets and appliances during future breaks.
3. Work on the laundry. This a chore you can get done ad break by ad break all evening. Start a load. When you see Flo from Progressive pop up, throw the clothes in the dryer. Start the whites going. When that guy who played the president on 24 starts plugging State Farm, pop the whites in the dryer and plop the dry load on the sofa to fold while you watch your shows. You can put stuff away later, when the Geico gecko appears.
4. Change the sheets. If your break isn’t long enough, divvy up this chore by changing the pillowcases and shams during one break, and the mattress pad and sheets during another.
The great thing about doing these chores during ads is that it makes you realize that each task really doesn’t take that long. I dread putting the sheets back on my bed, usually because I remember that they are still in the dryer about five seconds before I want to dive into bed and conk out. However, I realize now it takes only about four minutes to put them on.
5. Get the vacuum out and plugged in. You can lightly vacuum a room or two during each break. Better yet, attack the sofa. Give the cushions a toss, collect the spare change for the Coinstar jar and then vacuum the heck out of the cushions with the hose.
6. Sort through your coffee table books and magazines. Flip through the magazines and newspapers you’ve already read, then recycle them or put them in the donation bin (art teachers love to have them for class projects). Neaten the still-need-to-read pile. Flip through your coffee table books. If one of them has been displayed for awhile, switch it out. I like to rotate mine frequently so I can revisit my favorite books. They tend to inspire me all over again.
7. Clean out the fridge. I’m not talking super-duper refrigerator cleanout; I’m talking tossing stuff that’s rotten or expired. Wash out any recyclable containers, add to the compost bin and throw out what you need to. On the next break …
8. Take out the trash. While you’re at it, gather up those recyclables, including the magazines you just realized you’re done with, and take them to the bin as well.
9. Take the pile of stuff sitting on the stairs upstairs. Then put it away.
10. Clean out your purse. Or your murse, laptop bag, backpack, briefcase, boat tote. If there’s extra time, attack all those junky slots in your wallet, dump your change in the Coinstar-bound jar and sort your coupons. Then get excited about tomorrow’s trip to Coinstar and plan something fun for all that bonus dough: Starbucks gift certificate, Jim Gaffigan ticket, some more lemon verbena counter spray … the sky’s the limit. You will have earned it, four minutes at a time.
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