If you have 5 minutes…

Five minutes can make a difference in your day – in how you feel about yourself, in how organized you are, in the length of your "to-do" list. We all have those really short segments of time throughout the day, and if we are conscious of them, we can use them to get things done. And that always makes us feel better about ourselves.

Here are some of our favorites. What can you do in five minutes?

Clean the trash out of your purse (tissues, receipts, wrappers, expired coupons, etc.).
Adjust all the bills in your wallet so they face the same way.
Gather your reusable shopping bags and put them in the car.
Straighten your underwear drawer.
Put to-be-donated clothes in a bag by the door.
Get one more thing from your closet to put in the to-be-donated bag.
Fold the scarves and pair up the mittens in the coat closet.
Polish your favorite shoes.
Pick up five things and put them where they belong.
Wash the dog's or cat's bowl.
Test your smoke alarms.
Water the plants.
Call your dad.
Write a thank-you note that you've been putting off.
Write a card to a friend.
Empty the bathroom wastebaskets.
Check your stack of magazines and eliminate half.
Take out the garbage and recycling.
Tie up the cardboard or paper (whatever your community requires) for recycling.
Floss your teeth.
Look in your shower stall. Ditch any shampoos or body washes you haven't used in forever.
Move worn-out towels to the highest shelf of the linen closet.
Clean one shelf of your medicine cabinet, wipe it down, and toss the expired stuff.
Clean out one shelf of the refrigerator.
Organize the freezer, and toss the really old stuff.
Sanitize your kitchen counters.
Clear off the top of the refrigerator and wipe it clean.
Gather your plasticware lids into a basket (rounds in front, squares in back) to contain them neatly.
Stretch.
Reflect on a favorite quotation or poem.
Look through a box of photos and frame one that speaks to you.