The 15-minute hack for easier mornings

How would you spend your mornings if you could have an extra 10 minutes in bed knowing all the chores for the day are already taken care of? Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it?

Dream no more—enter, the closing shift.

The viral closing shift for easier mornings is our favourite organisation tip from 2023 and one that we’ll be maintaining throughout this year.

If you’ve ever worked in retail, you’ll be familiar with the closing shift. In the retail world, this usually covers tidying up, putting items back, and rehanging any clothing so the shop looks presentable the next morning. The closing shift in your home follows the same premise!

We’re not talking a deep clean every night. The closing shift is 15 minutes for you to tackle any small jobs, with the aim of getting chores out of the way now so future you can have a better morning. Whether you choose to spend your extra time snoozing or enjoying your clean home is up to you! By adding the closing shift to your pm routine, you’ll also have the benefit of less screen time—which makes winding down for the evening and drifting off much easier. And who doesn’t enjoy waking up to a sparkling home?

Your closing shift can include any chores you like, but to get into the habit each night, we recommend an easy ritual of kitchen, bedroom, and living room to kick off with. In these 3 rooms, you’ll only tackle a maximum of 3 jobs at a time—keeping the task easily doable even on the days you’re so tired you can barely move.

In the kitchen:
- Wipe the surfaces  
- Run the dishwasher  
- Take out any rubbish

In the bedroom:
- Put clothes into wardrobe 
- Reorder items in organisation drawers 
- Lint roll clothes

In the living room:
- Replace blankets and cushions 
- Wipe the surfaces 
- Put any stray items back where they belong.

This checklist only contains 9 quick tasks, but try this every night for a fortnight and see how it helps to keep the dreaded build-up of chores rolling around every Saturday. We’ll be completing our own closing shift over on Instagram!