It gets especially onerous in the summer, when there are so many more interesting things to do outside, and there are many more bodies around my house making messes every five minutes.  

Enter the 27 thing fling.  I learned it from Flylady, a get-your-house-in-order website with whom I have a fond but fickle relationship.

Here’s how we do it (slightly different from Flylady’s 27-fling boogie):

At some point each day, everyone in the house must drop what he/she is doing and put away, give away, or throw away 27 things.   They can be big or small, and no one judges what the other chooses to fling.  We might run around the house, picking up those random things that get dropped here and there, or we might tackle just one pile.  It could take three or thirty minutes. 

Why 27 things?  No reason, except that it’s a memorable number and enough to get rolling, but not burdensome enough to generate great resistance.  We all have other chores as well, but this one helps get to those little extras that sneak up on us.    It’s a quick pickup that nobody minds too much, and it’s enough to make a dent in the clutter.   

Want to know the best part?  Sometimes we fling 28, or even 31 things to complete a project.  Even I do, once in awhile. 

What tricks do you use to get chores done at your place?  Check out We Are THAT Family for more creative ideas. 

photo credit: Ro / wererabbit