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So much can happen in just 60 seconds.
Any single dish takes basically no time to load into a dishwasher — just quickly rinse and put it in — so my bowl and spoon after breakfast, containers after lunch, and plate, fork, and knife after dinner were easy one-minute wins. Small things like prep knives and cutting boards take basically 30 seconds each to hand-wash and set on a towel to dry, so those came next. At that point, if I had any big dishes, well, the water was hot and the sponge was soapy so...I always ended up tackling those, too.
Once the sink and counters were clear of dishes, I'd notice the crumbs and smears they left behind. And it took less than a minute to pull out a Clorox wipe and go to town.
And two different evenings, after I finished my ~night-time routine~, I noticed that my bathroom sink could stand a wipe-down, too. Anything that takes less than a minute!
The trash room in my building stinks and sometimes has mice, so I tend to avoid it as much as possible. But I also recycle everything I can. So when I procrastinate for a week (...or two...), my recycling turns into a teetering tower of wine bottles, strawberry clamshells, and milk cartons.
Both times it got even a little unruly, I decided it'd take less than a minute to just sort it all into reusable bags, even if I took it all downstairs later. While I admit that the first time the sorted bags sat for a day or two — it takes more than one minute to take them down and empty 'em! — the second time, when I was done sorting, I grabbed my keys and got them out of my kitchen.
Here's my typical post-workout, post-shower MO: Throw bag on the living room floor. Change if needed. Eat something. Before the next workout, rediscover smelly clothes still crammed in the backpack.
But with the one-minute rule, it was: Open backpack. Toss sweaty clothes in the laundry. Hang backpack on its hook in the closet. Change, eat, get on with life.
I admit that last Friday I woke up a little later than I meant to, so I skipped making it. But the rest of the week — and weekend! and all of this week so far! — I've done it. And y'all? I *love* coming home to a made-up bed. There's nothing that'll make a tiny studio look sharper and more put together.
I did simplify my definition of "made," so it could happen in less than a minute. Basically, most nights I didn't need my heavy duvet, so the next morning, instead of layering it in-between my top sheet and quilt, I just folded it and my ~accent blanket~, and plopped them at the foot of the bed. But it looked way better than the crumpled mess it would be otherwise!
(Side note: I ditched decorative and accent pillows a couple of years ago because I felt like they spent most of their time on the floor. If I can prove to myself that I'll be good about making up my bed, MAYBE I'll consider taking them out of their space bags.)
My current job isn't as email-intense as other jobs I've had, and I tend to answer emails pretty quickly anyway. But we do get big "Welcome XYZ Person!" emails that people gradually reply to over the course of hours and sometimes days — so they keep popping to the top of my inbox. I used to just ignore them even though they annoyed me a little. Now, I reply if I need to...then immediately hit MUTE (which archives them and stops them from appearing in your inbox at all).
It's part of my ~work day routine~ to get a cup of water at the beginning of my day, but when it's empty I don't always up for refills. But that's yet another thing that takes just 60 seconds. And even if it ends up taking a little bit longer, it's a good break from my desk chair.
Tossing any trash, taking my water cup to the bus bin — and deleting any photos on my desktop that I didn't need anymore (a side effect of writing BuzzFeed posts all day).
Of course as with anything like this, YMMV. But it costs literally nothing and could be really worth it in the end! If you're feeling intimidated, do what I did: Choose to do it for a week, or even like, three days, and see if it's something you want to keep.