Your mother-in-law called. She’s on her way with Aunt Tilly, and they will over in 10 minutes for a visit.

As you hang up the phone, you turn around to survey the damage in the rest of the house.

Yikes!

You’ve been hammering away at work in your ‘mock office’ on the kitchen table. Papers are everywhere. And your kids? If they are like my twin tornados with remote school, video games, and more, things are scattered everywhere. Then there’s the laundry. Yeah, at least we can throw a load or two in while working from home, but getting it put away (at least in my house) hasn’t happened.

But don’t panic.

You’ve got approximately 10 minutes. What do you attack first to get the most bang for your cleaning buck?

Pick stuff off the floor.

It always makes such a difference to actually “see” the carpet. Close off any rooms that don’t need to be seen, such as bedrooms, playrooms, etc.

For those other rooms, keep an extra laundry basket handy and just fill it up. Don’t bother sorting. Just scoop up all the toys and “stuff” and move on. (I also love the stuff under the bed or in a closet routine. That’s often what happens to my laundry… into the closet on the floor until I can get to it later!)

If your vacuum is easy to use, run it quickly. If it is a pain to find it and deal with the cord, forget about it.

Head into the kitchen.

If you have piles of dirty dishes everywhere, you have two choices. You could try to load the dishwasher. However, it might be easier to rinse everything quickly, fill the sink with soapy water, and pile it all in. Don’t worry about actually washing them. Let your company think they interrupted you.

Give the counters a once over with the sponge or a wipe, so nothing sticky is left for your guests to discover.

Time for the bathroom.

Nothing is more embarrassing than having someone ask to use your bathroom when you just know it is gross. And I can tell you with teen girls, it’s really gross. And what the heck happened to all the toilet paper?

Get everything off the counter and into a drawer. Grab a bleach wipe and wipe down the counter, the faucet, the sink, and the toilet.

Grab a wipe made just for mirrors and get that toothpaste spray that you have been purposely ignoring off the mirror. If you can, clean the toilet bowl as well. Note: make sure there is toilet paper.

Living room quickie.

Straighten the cushions on the sofa. Corral all the stuff in the shoe pile and hang up the coats.

That’s it. That’s all you’ve got time for, but this little list should make everything more presentable. Whether you are a neat freak or on the messy side, we all have days where we get caught off-guard. The point to remember is that you only need to give the “illusion” of clean. No one is going to open your closets or drawers. No one is going to peek behind closed doors. At least, I hope not.

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