This Cleaning Tip Will Make You Happier

Sorry, Internet, this will not be the year I Marie Kondo my life.

But everyone has time for a quick cleaning tip that takes about a minute, right? Right. That's why I enjoyed reading this sage advice from Gretchen Rubin's new book, Outer Order, Inner Calm, on lifestyle site PureWow: "Do any [cleaning] task that can be finished in less than one minute, without delay," Rubin, who also wrote the New York Times best-selling book, The Happiness Project, pens in her new book. "Hang up a coat, read a letter and toss it, put a document in a file, throw away a pen that doesn't work, put the toothpaste back in the medicine cabinet and close the door."

Iterations of this "60-second rule" have appeared in previous pieces of Rubin's work and you can also apply the ethos to tasks beyond cleaning. Write a check, send that email, water those herbs on your window sill...these are just a few of the many things you can check off a to-do less in under a minute flat.

WATCH: 10 Shortcuts to an Organized Home

In fact, after a week or so of employing this method, you may be riding such a high that you discover this will be the year you Marie Kondo your life, after all.