20 things you can do in 20 minutes for a productive day

Last Updated on November 13, 2024

There’s only so much time in a day to get things done, and if you’re a busy mum, you don’t have a lot of it. Luckily, you don’t need a lot of time to have a productive day, in fact, there are many things you can do in 20 minutes or less.

Here are 20 things you can do in 20 minutes or less, that will allow you to effectively use small pockets of time, tick things off your to do list, and end the day feeling just as productive as you would have if you had an entire day to get things done.

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Declutter

Decluttering is one of my favourite things to do in 20 minutes or less, because even the smallest decluttering project can make you feel super productive.

Some things you can declutter in 20 minutes or less include:

• Decluttering your kid’s room
• Decluttering your wardrobe
• Doing a digital declutter
• Clearing out a junk drawer
• Going through your kitchen cupboards
• Clearing out your handbag
• Getting rid of items in your kid’s school bags

Clean the bathroom

Cleaning the bathroom is probably one of the least enjoyable tasks, I know it’s one of my least favourite things to do.

However, giving yourself just 20 minutes or less to clean your bathroom means you can get this task over and done with, and it won’t become a larger and more time consuming task later on.

To clean your bathroom in 20 minutes or less, wipe down the basin, bath, and toilet, clean the shower screen and mirrors with window spray, and leave any large mess until you have more time.

Fold laundry

Just like cleaning the bathroom, folding laundry can be something you don’t want to do, but can be done in 20 minutes or less.

Meal plan

Creating a meal plan for the week, or a meal plan for one day, doesn’t take long, and there are many meal planning tips that can make this activity super quick.

Creating a meal plan saves you a lot of time, because you don’t have to spend time every night thinking about what to eat.

To make this task easy, you could buy a meal planner to help you, such as this meal planner that allows you to plan out meals for the week.

Unsubscribe from emails

Spending time unsubscribing from emails you no longer want makes your inbox more manageable, increases the chances you’ll see an important email, and will help you to better organise your emails so you can more easily keep on top of them.

Delete photos from your phone

Another thing you can do in 20 minutes for a productive day is to go through your phone’s photos and delete the ones you don’t want, or that you have duplicates of.

You could also create folders for the photos you have left, which will give you back a lot of phone storage, and will help you to find photos you need in the future.

Run errands

Getting errands done that you’ve been putting off is a great thing to do when you have a little bit of spare time.

Some errands that can be done in 20 minutes include:

• Writing a grocery list
• Going to the Post Office
• Paying a bill
• Picking up a gift for an upcoming birthday or occasion

Do a quick tidy up

20 minutes or less is a great amount of time to do some quick tidy up activities that will help keep your home tidy with kids.

Some quick tidy up ideas include:

• Taking things out of rooms they don’t belong in, and putting them where they do belong
• Making beds
• Cleaning dishes
• Vacuuming or mopping
• Putting away toys

Go through your fridge

Cleaning and organising your fridge is a great way to spend 20 minutes, which you can do by:

• Taking everything out and wiping your fridge down
• Throwing out items that have expired or gone bad
• Cutting large produce into smaller pieces to save space
• Removing small amounts of food from containers, and putting them in smaller containers
• Grouping similar items so they’re easy to find and will be used

Start dinner

If there’s any part of dinner that can be prepared in advance, like making a salad, cutting up meat, or even setting the table, doing this when you have a spare 20 minutes will save you time later on once everyone’s home.

Make appointments

Do you have any appointments that you’ve been putting off, like a doctor or dentist visit? If so, now’s the time to book them.

Do some life admin

Similar to making appointments, is there anything you’ve had on your to do list for ages but haven’t made the time to do it?

This could include changing doctors, filing paperwork, or ordering school uniforms.

Clean your car

If you have little kids, it’s not just dirt that you need to worry about in your car, it’s also toys and food leftovers.

If your car desperately needs a clean, you can clean it in 20 minutes by throwing out all the rubbish, wiping down surfaces and windows, and giving it a vacuum.

Have some alone time

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do for yourself to avoid burnout, or to simply reset so you have enough energy to get through the day, is to have some alone time.

Some things you may want to do if you get some alone time include:

• Self-care activities
• Watching TV
• Going for a walk
• Reading
• Listening to a podcast

Set family goals

Family goals are goals that allow your family to grow, work towards something, or give your family something to look forward to.

Some examples of family goals you may like to write down the next time you have 20 minutes to get things done include:

• Planning the next month’s outings
• Scheduling solo days out with each of your kids
• Planning your next family holiday
• Writing a list of family traditions to start

Set personal goals

You could also set some personal goals, or family goals, in 20 minutes or less, which can be anything big or small you’d like to accomplish over a set time.

You could even use a goal planner to help with this.

Make a school snack list

One way to make school lunches easier is to vary the snacks that you add to them.

Something you can do in 20 minutes is to write down some school snack ideas that you can rotate during the week.

To start your list, some school snack ideas are:

• Sliced vegetables
• Cheese and crackers
• Mini muffins
• Pretzels
• Dried fruit

Plan your week

Something else you can do in 20 minutes is plan your week, which can involve listing everything you’d like to get accomplished in the following week, and then scheduling each item into your journal or digital calendar.

Record important dates

If there are any dates you need to remember that you haven’t had a chance to put into your personal or family calendar yet, now’s a great time to do it.

These could be birthdays, anniversaries, parties, appointments, or school commitments.

Make a summer holiday list

Getting organised for summer by having a list of summer holiday activities that you can refer to, will save you time and sanity once summer arrives.

Some things to do over summer that you can add to this list are:

• Garden centres
• Playgrounds
• Cinema
• Museums
• Library
• Home days

20 things to do in 20 minutes or less, a recap

There are many things you can do in 20 minutes or less that will enable you to have a productive day.

Some of these things include completing tasks around your home that you’ve been putting off, meal planning, running errands, setting goals, and even cleaning out your fridge or car.

You could also unsubscribe from emails, delete phone photos, or make appointments in 20 minutes, or start getting organised for your kid’s summer break.

You don’t need a lot of time to have a productive day, and you don’t even have to do anything to feel productive, as sometimes the best thing we can do for ourselves is to take time out.

What other things can be done in 20 minutes or less?

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