If cleaning is overwhelming for you, creating and sticking to a schedule is one of the best ways to slowly, efficiently get it all done. But even if you’re doing it that way, just starting can be tough. There’s no shame in needing to work slowly toward a larger goal. Here’s a way to gradually build up your cleaning schedule.

The one-hour method of cleaning up

I’ve been a proponent of cleaning in small chunks of time for a while. In most cases, 15 minutes per day is all you need to make an impact on your home’s cleanliness over time. When there’s a major mess at hand, though, you might need longer, which is why CleanTok influencer @MommyHasntShowered suggests the “one-hour” rule. It’s what it sounds like: You clean for an uninterrupted hour, focusing only on tidying up, and then stop when the hour is done, rewarding yourself with something you enjoy, like ice cream or a favorite show.

That methodology is similar to a lot of others I advocate for, like the Pomodoro technique or time blocking. In general, whenever you’re doing a task, whether it’s studying, cleaning, answering emails, or something else that’s tedious and resource-heavy, you should block out a span of time, commit to only doing the task for that period, and stop when the time is up, then give yourself a reward. No matter what amount of time you’re giving yourself to do the task, having a hard stop and a reprieve at the end is extremely important for staying motivated.

What I like about the Mommy Hasn’t Showered technique, though, is that it combines those rigid rules with something a little more flexible. The cleaning influencer doesn’t expect you to just start with an hour on the first day you try this. Instead, she says you can work your way up to that amount, starting with five minutes. Even though the goal of using timed bursts is to stay motivated and focused, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to just dive into an hour of work, especially on a task that you don’t love. If cleaning is really a struggle for you, don’t try to bang out an hour right off the bat.

How to work your way up to an hour of cleaning a day

My personal preference is cleaning in 15-minute blocks every day, but that’s not always realistic. The hour is a necessary evil from time to time. To start working your way up to it, schedule your cleaning blocks about three days in advance at first. On the first three days, schedule five minutes. After that, check in with yourself. Was five minutes easy and are you ready to move on to 10 minutes at a time, or was it a struggle? If it was a struggle, just admit that to yourself and stick with the five minutes. If it wasn’t so bad, graduate to 10. Repeat the three-day process, moving from five to 10, then 15, 20, 30, and 45 as you go. Eventually, you’ll be ready to schedule out hour-long blocks of pure cleaning, but you’ll get there at your own pace.

Make sure you’re picking times to do this when you have nothing else going on. I usually suggest picking a time right after work, so you haven’t had time to wind down or get distracted, but you also don’t have other responsibilities, like work calls, to deal with. Your goal should be to focus on cleaning and only cleaning during however long you allot yourself. If you are distraction-free, you’ll be more motivated and focused. Seeing the gradual improvement of your space over time will motivate you more, as will the knowledge that, when the time is up, you’re done and can relax for the day. Slowly, you’ll grow into cleaning for longer periods of time and will have more time to utilize other cleaning techniques. Every day, pick one area to focus on, ideally something small. Your countertop, nightstand, or medicine cabinet are great examples of small spaces that can be tackled in bite-sized blocks of time.

Don’t feel bad if five or 10 minutes are daunting for you, either. Some people enjoy cleaning, but not everyone does. I write about it all day, but I hate it, too, and on days when I’m not motivated and 10 minutes seems like an eternity, I give myself some grace about it. It’s better to do a little of something than nothing, so you’ll feel more positive after a quick 10-minute tidying and that positivity will motivate you for the next day.

More than 45 million Americans rent their homes, and about half of them are “burdened” by their rent, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing (more than 12 million of them are spending more than half their income on housing, which is terrifying).

Calculating how much rent you can afford and using various strategies to find cheaper rent in your area tend to be very present-focused in the sense that it’s dealing with what the rent is now and what you can afford to pay now. But rents have been rising for a long time now (19% since 2019, on average), which is faster than wage growth. If you found an apartment you could barely afford a few years ago, all it takes is a rent increase to push you into crisis mode, searching for creative ways to cover the rent.

Generally speaking, your landlord can raise rent as much as they like, with few restrictions—only a handful of states have any sort of rent control law, and most states actively ban such laws. You can always try to negotiate rent increases, of course, but instead of waiting for that letter from your landlord to arrive, it’s always better to be forewarned. Knowing the signs that a rent increase is coming your way soon will give you the runway to plan a negotiation, launch a search for a cheaper place, or adjust your budget to absorb the hit, if possible. Here’s how to tell that your landlord is about to hit you with a rent increase.

Your landlord’s renovating the place

One of the most obvious signs that your landlord is about to raise your rent sky-high is a sudden interest in repairing and renovating your home. Improvements to apartments or rental houses make them more attractive to other renters, justifying a rent increase. And landlords typically calculate an increase in rent to defray the costs of renovation.

So if your landlord is suddenly paying attention to your complaints about an ancient bathroom or wants to gut the kitchen and put in new flooring, don’t celebrate—start making plans, because your rent will likely jump up as soon as your lease allows.

Foreclosures in the neighborhood

Paying attention to foreclosure rates in your area can be a good way to predict rent increases, because all those people who are being forced out of their homes have to find someplace to live. A wave of foreclosures in your neighborhood translates to a surge of people needing a place to rent, and that increased demand can drive up rents everywhere. If you notice a lot of homes on your block being sold by the bank, brace yourself for that rent increase letter.

Rental inventory goes down

Similarly, if you notice there are a lot fewer homes being offered for rent in your area, that’s a sure sign that demand has spiked. And when demand spikes, rents eventually follow because property owners know they can get higher rents. Check sites like Trulia or Zillow regularly to have an idea of the typical supply of rental homes in your area. If you notice a sudden plunge in availability, you might be staring down a rent increase as a result.

Utility costs in the area go up

If your landlord pays the utilities for your rental, they’ve worked out how much to pad your rent to cover typical usage. If the costs of heat, electricity, gas, and water shoot up, so will your rent. You can use a site like EnergyBot to see the rates in your area. Check every few months to make sure that there hasn’t been a recent spike that could inspire your landlord to rethink their rents.

Other rents are rising

Finally, a sure sign that your rent is going up is when other rents go up in your area. This is especially true in the modern era of algorithmic rent determination tools like RealPage, which help landlords determine the absolute highest rent they can squeeze out of their properties—the more landlords that use these technologies, the more monolithic rents will become. If your neighbor complains about a huge spike in their rent, it could be a clear sign that the wave is about to hit you as well.

If you see the signs and have a little warning that your rent is going up, you have time to try to adjust your budget, find a cheaper place, or consider a roommate or other way to subsidize your housing costs. That’s a lot better than being blindsided by that rent increase letter in your mailbox.

Google takes a slightly different approach to its big product announcements than most. Unlike other companies, who mostly try to retain an air of secrecy before the keynote, Google simply embraces all the leaks and rumors, showing off the devices themselves before Made by Google.

That’s how we know for sure that this year, Google is showing off the Pixel 9 Pro and and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. These two phones are highlighted on the company’s own Made by Google website, but almost act as stand-ins for Google’s larger highlight: AI. Here’s what to expect, and how to watch:

Pixel 9 line

Google has built up the Pixel as a major contender in the smartphone marketplace. Now, it’s unveiling the “9” series, and rumor has it we’re seeing four new phones.

Kicking things off is a standard Pixel 9, which Google hasn’t actually commented on yet. The rumors suggest this could ship with a 6.3-inch display, 12GB of RAM, a 50MP standard camera, and a 48MP ultrawide. What we have seen is its more expensive companion, the Pixel 9 Pro. Google hasn’t provided any specs yet, but, again, rumors suggest it could ship with a higher-resolution display, 16GB of RAM, and three rear cameras—the extra being a 48MP telephoto lens). This year, we could also get an XL variant of the Pixel 9 Pro, which would bump the display up to 6.8 inches. (The rest of the specs are likely the same as the Pixel 9 Pro.)

Last but not least, is the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Despite having “9” in its name, the Fold is actually only Google’s second attempt at a foldable phone. Rumors suggest it could have a 6.3-inch display on the outside, and an 8-inch display on the inside, coupled with 16GB of RAM, and three rear cameras: a 48MP wide, 10.8MP ultrawide, and a 10.8MP telephoto. If you’re looking for the best cameras, you’ll want a standard Pixel Pro.

All new Pixels are getting Google’s latest in-house chip, the Tensor G4. That means, regardless of which Pixel you want to pick up, you should expect similar, if not identical, performance across devices. That said, rumors suggest the G4 isn’t going to provide a huge bump in performance over the G3, so your Pixel 8 probably won’t be that much slower than the Pixel 9.

Where the real advantage may come, however, is with AI.

Android 15 and Gemini

Google’s next big Android upgrade, Android 15, is on the horizon, and will likely take up some of tomorrow’s focus. We already know quite a bit about Android 15, including new features like Private Space, which gives you a hidden spot on your phone to store sensitive apps and files.

But it seems almost certain that any Android discussion, Android 15 or otherwise, will pertain to AI. Google is rumored to be dubbing its future AI endeavors as “Google AI,” which draws immediate parallels to Apple’s “Apple Intelligence.” And like Apple Intelligence, some of Google’s new features are probably going to be exclusives: We’re expecting some Pixel 9-specific AI features with this announcement, which means they’ll require the Tensor G4 chip to run. These features include Add Me, a feature that might use AI to add extra people to a photo; Studio, which appears to be an AI image generator; and Pixel Screenshots, which may scan the screenshots in your library, turning them into an easy-to-search database.

I’m all for useful AI features, especially ones that beef up privacy and security. However, I’m not seeing anything in the rumors to suggest that Made by Google 2024 is going to be an AI revolution for Google. The company is still coming back from its disastrous AI Overviews rollout, and had to pull a Gemini ad during the Olympics, so I’m not convinced we’re going to see the future of AI roll out tomorrow. Instead, we may see some useful upgrades for Pixel users, especially those who invest in Google’s upcoming line of devices.

That said, we’ll have to see what Google actually decides to announce.

How to watch Made by Google 2024

Google is hosting Made by Google on its main Google Store site on Tuesday, Aug. 13. You can also tune in directly from the company’s YouTube stream here. The livestream starts at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET).

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for August 12, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is harder; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for August 12, Wordle #1,150! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

There are only two common letters from our mnemonic today. The other three are less common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

A small boat.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There is one repeated letter today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is one vowel.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with S. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with F. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is SKIFF.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, followed by BLIND. I guessed SKIMP next with a lot of likely answers starting with S and trying to eliminate frequently appearing consonants. SKIFF was the only remaining solution.

Wordle 1,150 5/6

⬛⬛🟩🟨⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was “a treat eaten with tea or coffee” and the answer contained four common letters and one fairly common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was SCONE.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for August 11, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for August 11, Wordle #1,149! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

There are four common letter from our mnemonic today. The other letter is also are fairly common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

A treat eaten with tea or coffee.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with S. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with E. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is SCONE.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, which gave me four of five letters and only a few solutions. I tried SCOPE, leaving SCONE as the answer.

Wordle 1,149 4/6

⬛⬛⬛🟨🟩
⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was “a doctor or EMT, for example” and the answer contained three common letters and two fairly common letters.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was MEDIC.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.