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EVEN A SMALL kitchen is big in terms of how much there is to clean. You spend just a little over an hour a day in your kitchen — but it’s not the actual time. It’s the sheer number of different things you do in your kitchen. Store food, prepare food, sometimes eat or snack, and then clean up after all that prepping, cooking and eating.

One way to keep kitchen tasks under control is to separate them by area or appliance. The fridge is its own universe that needs maintenance and cleaning. The pantry or cabinets where you keep food are other places that need occasional upkeep. The range top where you have burners, whether gas, electric or induction is a different zone from the oven.

The divide-and-conquer rule says instead of looking at your whole kitchen as one huge job to tackle, look at those specific zones. Even within those areas, you can subdivide further.

Here's how to divide and conquer cleaning the fridge:

• Clean just one shelf

• Reorganize and clean the little bins attached to the door

• Spray and wipe the side walls of the fridge

• Use a damp sponge to clean the gasket around the freezer

You won’t finish the whole thing in one day (or maybe even in one week), but you made a start. We know it's a cliche, but Rome wasn’t built in a day, and your kitchen isn’t going to be finished in a few hours.

You can still do a lot in just a few minutes, and the results can motivate you to keep going.

Speed clean your kitchen in 5 steps