Blitz-It Friday

This week I blitzed on three separate occasions, just because it is such a great way to get things done.

First I blitzed the kitchen. This is one of my least favorite chores, and sometimes I let it get really bad. Monday was one of those days. The only way to motivate myself to tackle the mess was to set the timer and tell myself I only had to work on it for 10 minutes. I was moving so fast that I finished the entire kitchen (except the floor) before the timer went off.

On Wednesday I set my timer for 20 minutes to pick up and vacuum the entire house. No deep cleaning, just putting away all the stuff that clutters our living room, kitchen table, dresser tops, etc. And the floors really needed a good vacuum. I almost finished in time, but I was still moving the couch back when the timer beeped.

My last blitz was yesterday, a beautiful sunny morning. It was really a desperate attempt to get my laundry out on the lines early enough to dry completely. With the "help" of my kids, I managed to change the sheets and duvets on all the beds, hang up three loads of laundry, and clean the kitchen floors. I forgot to turn the timer on, but we got so much done in high speed.

I love blitzing! I need to use this method everyday. Imagine how much I could accomplish!

Happy Blitzing.

Blitz-It Friday

Organized Everyday is hosting a new carnival called Blitz-it Friday. If you have no idea what a blitz is, check out the original one hour blitz and staying focused.

Wow. I haven't blitzed in such a long time. Now I'm just a little late posting about it. We are finally settled enough in our new home to be ready and desperate for a good cleaning blitz. On Friday, I set my timer and started moving as fast as I could.

I started in the kitchen with this mess:

Here's what I did in the first 45 minutes of my blitz:

• Unloaded the dishwasher
• Loaded the dishwasher and turned it on
• Cleared off the kitchen table
• Hand washed the pans
• Wiped the counters and stove
• Swept the kitchen floors

And here was the result:

Next I turned my attention to the kid's room, which they had torn apart earlier in the day.

Here's what I did in the last 15 minutes:

• Put away clean laundry
  
• Made the kid's beds
  
• Folded and put away the kid's clothes
  
• Vacuumed the hall, living room, kid's room
  

And here was the end result.

The timer started to beep just as I put away the vacuum cleaner.

What a great hour of blitzing!

Blitz-It Friday - Big Project: Moving #2

We are down under three weeks before the move. Some of our friends have commented that we are starting the packing very early. But it is slow going because we have to purge so heavily while packing, not to mention how much two little kids slow us down.

Here is what we accomplished this week:

• Blitzed for a total of 5 hours.


• Packed 6 boxes.


• Cleared out 3 more bags of clothing, 2 boxes of kitchen appliances and dishes, 1 box of random bedroom stuff, and 2 bags of garbage / recycling.
  


• Cleared out / packed our bed stands and started on the master closet.


• Moved all the boxes into the corner of our bedroom to clear the living room of the feeling of clutter.

GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK (July 11 - 17):

1. Spend at least one hour blitzing each day (maybe take the weekend off)
   
2. Continue sorting the file cabinet
   
3. Sort, Pack, Purge - focus on unused kitchen items, and unused clothing
   
4. Finish the Visa applications; continue gathering supporting documentation
   
5. Finish scanning pictures (left over from the last project)
   

If you want to follow all the details of our crazy move, this will be the topic of my Blitz-It Friday's for the next several weeks.

Stop by Organized Everyday for more projects that are being blitzed.

Blitz-It Friday - Big Project: Moving #1

For the next four weeks, we are focusing all our energy into sorting, purging, packing and moving. This week was a great start; now we just need to keep the momentum going.

Here is what we accomplished:

• Blitzed for a total of six hours (in one hour increments).


• Packed 15 boxes, including books, random kid's stuff and kitchen stuff.


• Cleared out three large bags of clothing, two boxes of toys, a box of books, and a few miscellaneous items.


• Completely packed / cleared out the top of the kid's closet.


• Started sorting the file cabinet - cleared out a HUGE stack of shredding.

GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK (July 4 - 10):

1. Spend at least one hour blitzing each day (maybe take the weekend off)
   
2. Continue sorting the file cabinet
   
3. Sort, Pack, Purge - focus on unused kitchen items, and unused clothing
   
4. Visa applications and supporting documentation
   
5. Finish scanning pictures (left over from the last project)
   

If you want to follow all the details of our crazy move, this will be the topic of my Blitz-It Friday's for the next several weeks.

Stop by Organized Everyday for more projects that are being blitzed.

Blitz-It Friday - Picture Organization Week #4

This was a great week for blitzing. I was able to accomplish so much on this project. Here were my goals and what I got done...


GOALS FOR LAST WEEK (JUNE 20 - 26):

Goal 1: Spend at least two hours blitzing this project
I was on a roll several evenings in a row and spent about six hours blitzing this week.

Goal 2: Continue converting negatives to CD
I did not have any opportunities to get to the library for scanning this week. This part of the project is going to have to wait for some future occasion. Maybe a few years down the road the technology will be more available and affordable.

Goal 3: Finish sorting the pictures to be scanned
I have sorted through what seems like a million pictures this week, but still have not determined what needs to be scanned.

Below you can see the stack of albums that I pulled from the shelf.

I sorted through all these books to see if I really needed to keep everything. I was inspired by Organizing Mommy at Organized Everyday to keep only the pictures that are actually good. I cleared out doubles, blurry pictures, shots of the back of heads, those with weird looks, etc. It was very freeing.

I reduced the keepers to the stack you see in the picture below
(leaving 11 albums, down from 18).

Goal 4: Begin scanning pictures
I did not have a chance to start scanning pictures. This is going to take some time, but at least I can do it at home in the evenings.

Goal 5: Sort through remaining stuff in the closet
I am almost done sorting through everything on that closet shelf. There is still one box of unsorted pictures that needs to be organized. I left the biggest mess for last ... and the pile has grown as I sorted through the letters and cards in our file cabinet.



It was a great week, but I am out of time. This project has to be done by this Tuesday, so I can move on to the next project. Here are my goals for the last few days ...

GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK (JUNE 27 - 30):

1. Spend at least two hours blitzing
   
2. Finish scanning pictures
3. Condense the storage space needed for negatives
   
4. Finish organizing the unsorted pictures
   
5. Pack up the albums and pictures for the move
   

Stay tuned for the announcement of my next summer blitzing project.

Stop by Organized Everyday for more projects that are being blitzed.

Blitz-It Friday - Picture Organization Week #3

I had a great week working on this project. But sorry, no pictures this week. Here were my goals and what I was able to get done.

GOALS FROM LAST WEEK (JUNE 13 - 19):

Goal 1: Spend at least one hour blitzing this project
This week I was able to spend three one-hour blitzing sessions. I spent two hours sorting letters, notes, souvenirs, etc. I decided to tackle all the letters and cards that have been waiting in my file cabinet at the same time. I was able to reduce everything down to one box of letters and one box of souvenirs.

Goal 2: Begin converting negatives to CD
Last week I was bemoaning the fact that it would cost over $650 at Sam's Club (the cheapest option) to convert our 85 rolls of film.

I was talking with my hubby about how much we could actually budget to spend on this. In the middle of our conversation, he paused, grabbed his computer, looked something up online, then smiled at me. The school has a negative scanner that I can use for FREE. WooHoo!

I spent one hour at the library this week, to learn how to use the scanner and to start actually scanning. Now I have a pretty good idea how long it would take to scan everything. TOO LONG! I do not have 80+ hours to scan every roll of film. I will need to prioritize the rolls to scan and just leave the rest for another time.

Goal 3: Sort the pictures that need to be scanned
I started sorting pictures that need to be scanned, but haven't gotten very far. First I need to determine which pictures that don't have negatives, but that are important enough to spend the time scanning. I will need to work on this more next week.

Goal 4: Create a more-detailed project plan
I was only planning on spending another 11 days on this project. That should be enough time to finish sorting all the remaining stuff on the top of the closet. However, that will probably not be enough time to complete all the scanning I was hoping to get done. Once I am done sorting, I will have a better idea how much time I need for scanning.


GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK (JUNE 20 - 26):

1. Spend at least two hours blitzing
   
2. Continue scanning negatives
3. Finish sorting the pictures to be scanned
4. Begin scanning pictures
5. Sort through remaining stuff in the top of the closet
6. Finalize the project plan and time line.

I am getting more aggressive with my goals for this week. I cannot afford to spend all summer on this project. There are too many other areas that need my attention.

Stop by Organized Everyday for more projects that are being blitzed.

Blitz-It Friday - Picture Organization Week #2

This was the first full week of my big summer project - the top shelf in our bedroom closet, full of pictures, photo albums, etc.

GOALS FOR LAST WEEK (JUNE 8 - 12):

1. One hour sorting / purging.
2. Research negatives-to-CD.

Although I technically met my goals for the week, but I am beginning to realize that this project is going to take more time than I originally expected.

I started my hour long blitz by pulling out all the memory boxes that were stacked on the shelf. This will be the first part of the closet shelf I will tackle. When I opened them, I was pleased to find that the boxes were fairly well organized.


The first three were full of letters from friends and family. I am so sentimental about cards and letters that people have given me. In addition to these boxes, almost a quarter of our file cabinet is filled with correspondence that needs to be cleared out. Although I need to tackle this, it is not a good place to start -- I would be overwhelmed by my project before I accomplished anything.


The next two boxes are filled with unsorted memorabilia and souvenirs -- more stuff to sort. Eeek! These boxes will also have to wait until later in my project.


The last three I opened were full of pictures and negatives. I was surprised at much film we have here. These are what I am hoping to preserve digitally on film. There are about 85 rolls worth negatives from the last 20 years. I was originally planning on having everything transferred to CD, however, because the film is already developed, that option may prove to be too expensive.

My hour was spent going through the pictures and negatives, putting them in order and becoming familiar with what we have.

I also started the research on converting these negatives to digital files. The best option I have found is Sam's Club. They charge $0.21 per picture -- I would have to sort through every single roll and choose every each picture that I wanted transferred. Now that sounds like a lot of work.

GOALS FOR THIS WEEK (JUNE 13 - 19):

1. Spend at least one hour blitzing this project.
   
2. Begin converting negatives to CD.
3. Sort pictures that need to be scanned.
4. Create a better plan and timeline for this project, so it is completed before our move.
   

Has anyone else transferred their negative to CD? Do you have any recommendations? I could really use a better option.

Stop by Organized Everyday for more projects that are being blitzed.

Blitz-It Friday - Project Plan Week #1

Instead of just blitzing the regular house work this summer, we are going to blitz projects. I have so much that needs to be done, but it has been a little tricky coming up with a project that can be blitzed. But I have finally chosen a project...

THE PROBLEM:
The top shelf of our bedroom closet containes a huge stack of pictures, photo albums, mementos, souvenirs, etc. This stuff needs to be purged, organized and preserved (especially photos).


PROJECT PLAN OVERVIEW:

1. Sort through everything on the shelf (purge, purge, purge)
2. Preserve pictures and other “non-replaceables”
3. Organize and store the remaining stuff

START & END DATE:
June 8 - 30, 2009


GOALS FOR THIS WEEK (JUNE 8 - 12):

1. Spend at least one hour this week sorting / purging.
2. Research where to digitize all my 35 mm negatives (any suggestions???).
   

Stop by Organized Everyday for more projects that are about to be blitzed.

Blitz-It Friday

Does Blitz-It Saturday count?

I didn't read the Project Blitz post until I was ready to publish this post, so I'll have to do some thinking about what to tackle. I definitely have plenty...

What a crazy week this has been! I had to start digging into all the stuff left undone by our focus on the yard sale.

We ate outside this evening, with all our neighbors. It was kind of an impromptu goodbye gathering for our neighbors who are moving tomorrow. When we came back inside, and got both kids to bed, I knew I had to tackle the kitchen. It was piled high from all the day's dishes and the dinner preparation.

This was the perfect situation for a blitz. I decided I could wrestle up 20 minutes of energy to finish whatever I could in that time. I actually ended up cleaning for 35 minutes (15 minutes past the timer). Once I got moving, it was easy to push a little further to finish.

Here is what I was able to accomplish:

• Unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher - it is ready to run when we go to bed tonight
  


• Washed the pots & pans, and other misc. items by hand
  


• Cleaned the sink, stove top & counters


• Swept and mopped the kitchen and dining room floors
  

I was definitely not moving at my top speed, and now I am wiped, but it feels so good to know that I won't have all those dishes waiting for me in the morning.

Check out more great blitzing at Organized Everyday.

Blitz-It Friday

I had great plans for blitzing yesterday, but never made the time for it. I have been focusing on purging so much that I have been neglecting the cleaning. Our apartment is in desperate need of some serious cleaning. But that is not for today. Maybe next week, after this yard sale is over.

I attempted to use the blitz for sorting and clearing out. It was great for the first few minutes, but quickly became too involved and emotional. The timer just added stress instead of motivation, so I had to stop it. I guess there are some things that I just can't blitz.

This morning, I had 20 minutes to blitz some simple cleaning and pick up. Here is what I was able to accomplish:

• Loaded the dishwasher


• Washed the pots & pans


• Wiped the stove top & counters


• Picked up all the toys in the dining and living room


• Folded and put away a load of the kid's laundry


• Emptied the diaper pail


• Partially cleared off the kitchen table and top of the book case

It was a brief cleaning session; next week I need to do some serious cleaning.

Check out more great blitzing at Organized Everyday.

Blitz-It Friday

I had great plans for blitzing yesterday, but I spent most of the day with a migraine and got very little done. This seems to be a pattern lately. This time, at least I know what triggered the migraine ... I didn't keep myself hydrated.

In spite of the down day yesterday, I found 30 minutes for blitzing this afternoon.

Here is what I was able to accomplish:

• Unloaded & reloaded the dishwasher


• Washed the pots & pans


• Scrubbed the stove top & counters


• Swept the kitchen, dining room and hallway


• Picked up all the misc stuff around the dining and living room


• Sorted the mail


• Cleared off the kitchen table (mostly)


• Cleaned the bathroom toilet and sink (the rest will have to wait)

It was a brief cleaning session, but now the house feels a little more organized, even if it still needs some deep cleaning.

I'd love to hear about your blitzing or cleaning. What do you do for spring cleaning?

Check out more great blitzing at Organized Everyday.

Blitz-It Friday

I had great plans for blitzing yesterday, but I spent most of the day with a migraine and got very little done.

However, I did spend 30 minutes blitzing my kitchen this morning (it is amazing how quickly our kitchen gets messy, especially when I'm out of commission for a day).

Here is what I got done in my 30 minutes:

• Unloaded the dishwasher


• Reloaded the dishwasher


• Cleaned up the lunch mess


• Washed the pots & pans


• Scrubbed the stove top


• Wiped down the counters

I meant to sweep the floor as well, but the kids were going full speed by this point. It will have to wait until tonight when everyone is down for bed.

Check out more great blitzing at Organized Everyday.

~~~~~

We are at T-minus 15 days to the big yard sale.

Here are a few things I did today:

• Wrote a list of all the big items that are being sold so I don't forget anything on the big day.


• Evaluated anything that needs to be done to items being sold, like washing seat covers, etc.


• Prioritized areas of the house to hit next (some areas will have more for the yard sale, and some will have more to just rid of).

I'm hoping to get a little more done after the kids go down, but we'll have to see how much energy I have by this evening.

Blitz-It Friday

Organized Everyday is hosting a new carnival called Blitz-it Friday. If you have no idea what a blitz is, check out the original one hour blitz and staying focused.

This was a crazy week for us, and I didn't get the blitz's done that I had planned. Maybe next week I'll be a little more productive.

But I did get a short blitz in today. The kids were sitting down for an afternoon snack. My hubby and I took one look at the disaster in the house and knew something needed to be done and fast. Together, we spent 15 minutes hitting all the clutter that had accumulated this week. It is really fun to blitz with my hubby.

We picked up all the toys,books and puzzles in the living room, dining room, bed room, play area and hall way - I'm convinced the kids were determined to pull out everything they owned and distribute it to every room in the house.

We also had an unusual amount of clothing to put away. My son is recently excited about his "dressing" skills and had pulled out coats, pajamas and who knows what other clothing items to show us how he could put them on by himself.

Then, while I cleared the kitchen table and counters, my hubby hit some piles of random stuff that had accumulated by the front door.

It was short and sweet, but very satisfying! I'm looking forward to blitzing some major spring cleaning next week! I'll let you know how it goes.

Check out more Blitz's at Organized Everyday

Blitz-It Friday

Organized Everyday is hosting a new carnival called Blitz-it Friday. If you have no idea what a blitz is, check out the original one hour blitz and staying focused.

Although my kitchen, living room and dining room could use a blitz every week, today I decided I really needed to tackle another area of the house ... my bedroom.

Here are a few before pictures.

Where do you start, when the piles are so high? In order to keep from getting discouraged, I had to start with the easiest stuff and the piles that would make the most visual difference. Here is how I tackled this space.

1. Clothes (both clean and dirty) - the easiest thing to put away


2. Bag and Shoes - these, too, already have a home so they are easy to put away


3. Storage Bins - I had three bins that just needed to be put back in the closet


4. Empty Boxes - why are these in here anyway?


5. Books - most of these just needed to return to the bookshelf
   


6. Random Boxes - these are boxes and containers that had been used to quickly pick up other parts of the house before company came over... then they just sat in my room making a mess.
   


7. Surfaces - I cleared off the top of the desk, the dresser, the headboard and the night stands. This was time consuming because there are so many little things - jewelry, hair clips, paper clips, safety pins, etc.


8. Put Away Piles - I had created several piles of stuff that went to other rooms that had to be put away - kid's room, garage sale stuff, etc. The timer went off right before I started this and it took me 10 minutes to get it all distributed.

It is still not perfect, but it is so much better. In the end, it took me 70 minutes to get the bedroom to this point.

Check out the after pictures.

Yes, I know we need to hang some pictures on the walls, but we are moving soon, so it will probably never happen.

What have you blitzed this week? Check out more Blitz's at Organized Everyday

Blitz-It Friday

Organized Everyday is hosting a new carnival called Blitz-it Friday. If you have no idea what a blitz is, check out the original one hour blitz and staying focused.

On Sunday afternoon this week, my husband reminded me that we were having friends over that night, after the kids went down. I had completely forgotten and our house was in need of some work before it was even casual, company ready. I knew I was going to have to super blitz it to get everything done. Here is what I was able to get done in just over an hour of work:

• Picked up the kid's bedroom
  
• Picked up the living room and play area
  
• Sorted the paper pile on the table
• Cleared off the kitchen table
  
• Loaded the dishwasher and turned it on
  
• Hand washed the pans
  
• Wiped the counters and stove
• Swept the floors - living room, dining room, kitchen and hall
• Vacuumed - bedrooms, living room, play area, hall runner
• Spot-dusted the living room
• Cleaned and polished the kitchen and living room tables
• Cleaned the bathroom toilet and sink
• Swept the bathroom floor
• Shook out the bathroom rug

The timer went off just after I started the bathroom. I'm not sure how long it took, but I was able to finish it before my kids went crazy.

Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it. I started to lose my momentum about 45 minutes into the cleaning. A couple big gulps of water helped get me going again.

How do you tackle your cleaning?

Blitz-It Friday

Organized Everyday is hosting a new carnival called Blitz-it Friday. If you have no idea what a blitz is, check out the original one hour blitz and staying focused.

This week I did two 30 minute blitz's on different days.

Wednesday - 30 minutes:

• Pulled last load of laundry from the dryer
• Folded FIVE loads of laundry
• Put away FOUR loads of laundry

It doesn't seem like much because it was only a few tasks, but it was a huge pile of laundry. The timer went off before I finished putting away the last load.


Friday - 30 minutes:

• Unloaded the dishwasher
  
• Cleaned out the refrigerator
• Finished pulling the remaining meat off the turkey bones (yes, from Easter...)
• Started the Turkey Lentil soup in the crock pot
  
• Loaded and turned on the dishwasher
• Took out the garbage and recycling

The timer went off as I was preparing to take out the garbage. It was a great half hour. I was able to get more done than I expected.

Happy Blitzing!

Blitz-It Friday

Organized Everyday is hosting a new carnival called Blitz-it Friday. We are on week three! If you have no idea what a blitz is, read here: the original one hour blitz and staying focused.

What at great blitzing week for me!

I did an hour-long blitz on Sunday because my husband was coming home late that night and I wanted the house to reflect how excited we were for his return. (Nothing like a horrid mess to make someone sorry they came back from a pristine hotel, with daily maid service).

This was the first blitz where I deliberately got my children (son, age 3 and daughter, age 1) involved. It slowed me down, but was worth it. They had so much fun helping me, and were so proud of their own accomplishments.

I actually remembered to snap a few pictures before we started ...

... and after.

Sunday Blitz:

• Unloaded the dishwasher - my son loves to put away all his and his sister's dishes.
• Reloaded and ran the dishwasher
• Hand-washed pan and misc. dishes
• Cleared off the kitchen table
• Put away all the living room clutter
  
• Picked up and put away all the toys - this was mostly done by my son and daughter, though I think my daughter only picked up a few plastic eggs and put them in a bucket (we went to an Egg Hunt this weekend).
• Vacuumed the living room, play area, hallway and kid's room.
• Swept the kitchen, dining room, living room and bathroom
  

My son informed me after I turned off the vacuum that the timer beeped while I was being so loud (i.e. the vacuum was noisy). I decided that I really needed to sweep before I quit for the day, so I did that after the hour had ended.

Blitz-It Friday

Organized Everyday is hosting a new carnival called Blitz-it Friday. We are on week three! If you have no idea what a blitz is, read here: the original one hour blitz and staying focused.

What at great blitzing week for me! I did an hour-long blitz on Tuesday. I was hosting our Bible study group on Tuesday night and really needed to clean my house. A friend offered to play with the kids at the playground while I cleaned.

Here is what I got done in my hour:

• Unloaded and reloaded dishwasher
• Hand-washed pots and pans
• Cleaned stove
• Wiped counters
• Cleared off kitchen table
• Took out garbage and recycling
• Cleaned under the sink (icky stuff had missed the garbage can)
• Swept all the floors (kitchen, dining, living, entry, hall)
• Vacuumed living room (until I sucked up a toy and broke the vacuum)
• Cleaned play area
• Cleaned cat litter box
• Cleared out the entryway (stuff just piles up behind the door)
• Picked up living room and office area

It was a crazy hour, focused mostly on surface cleaning and straightening so I wouldn't be completely embarrassed to have people over. It is quite obvious after all this work that I really could have used another hour (or four) of blitzing. My house desperately need some spring cleaning!

Blitz-It Friday

Organized Everyday is hosting a new carnival called Blitz-it Friday.
If you have no idea what a blitz is, read here: the original one hour blitz and staying focused.

This week, I did not have a whole hour to blitz. Instead, I did two 30 minute sessions. I am very pleased with the amount of work I was able to accomplish, in spite of the distractions of kids.

Sorry, no pictures. I forgot about snapping a few shots until I was well into the cleaning.

First 30-minute blitz:

1. Changed the linens in the kids room
2. Sorted three loads of laundry and started one
3. Loaded the dishwasher
4. Hand-washed the pans
5. Cleaned the stove
6. Cleared off and wiped down the counters
7. Wiped down the cupboards
8. Changed the sheets in the master bedroom (the timer for the first half-hour beeped while I was finishing up the bed)

Second 30-minute blitz:

1. Cleaned the bathroom (including the toilet, sink, mirror, shower/tub, sweep & mop floor, changed linens, shake out rug)
2. Started another load of laundry
3. Swept and mopped kitchen and dining room floors (the timer beeped while I was finishing up the floors)

I had a few more things on my list to get done, but overall, this was a very successful cleaning session.

Have fun blitzing!

Blitz-It Friday

Organized Everyday is hosting a new carnival called Blitz-it Friday.
If you have no idea what a blitz is, read here: the original one hour blitz and staying focused.

I have used a similar style of cleaning in the past, by setting time limits and hitting one area very quickly, but have never tried it for an hour. I am hoping to use this carnival to get some good things done in a short amount of time.


Blitz-it Friday:
Kitchen Blitz

1. Put away leftovers from lunch
2. Unloaded dish washer
3. Reloaded dish washer and started it (yes, there were so many dishes that I had to immediately run the dishwasher)
4. Hand washed pans and misc. dishes
5. Cleaned stove
6. Put away groceries
   
7. Cleared off and cleaned counters
8. Cleared off and cleaned kitchen table and chairs
9. Swept kitchen, dining room, living room and entryway floors
10. Mopped kitchen and dining room floors

Today was my first hour-long blitz using these specific strategies. And I must admit I was disappointed at how much I got done (or didn't get to). I was really hoping to be more productive (the bathroom really could have used some attention, too).


A few things I found extremely helpful:

• the rule about FOCUS -it kept me on track, especially while clearing off the counters and putting the items away in other rooms.
• the suggestion to keep WATER nearby - about half-way through my hour, I was wearing down, then I saw my water. After a few big swallows, I was ready to keep going.
• a LIST of tasks to accomplish - although I didn't get to everything, it helped me be very focused in the kitchen and finish the job completely (instead of leaving it mostly clean)
  

Have fun blitzing!