I despise having to clean the kitchen before I can make dinner.

It’s so frustrating to have to clear the counters and wash the needed pots and pans before I can even get started. This was my reality way too often.

I’d walk in the door with a crying baby on my hip and 2 toddlers running around begging for something to eat.

When I got to the kitchen I’d realize that we hadn’t really cleaned things up from the night before. Now not only did I have no clue what I was going to make for dinner but I had to consider whether the darn pans I might need were clean or not!

As a mom whose home organizing journey needs a fresh start you want to be set up for lasting home organizing solutions, right?  In order to make that happen you’ll have to do something different than you’ve done before or what society tells us.

Instead of feeling bad that you can’t consistently clean your kitchen every night after you tuck kids into bed, you can get into a simple kitchen cleaning routine and lean into what comes naturally for you.

Learn why “clean the kitchen every night before you go to bed” isn’t the best advice, what is better advice and how you can implement a simple kitchen cleaning routine.

CLEAN THE KITCHEN EVERY NIGHT BEFORE YOU GO TO BED

I’m sure in your plight to get started, get organized and ultimately stay organized, you’ve come across the advice to make sure that the kitchen is cleaned up every night before you go to bed. When you have toddlers to feed, bathe and tuck into bed that means you’ll be up later doing this kitchen clean up. While I don’t think this is BAD advice because it’s definitely a bonus to wake up to a clean kitchen… heck even a clean house, sometimes that just doesn’t work out. Or it simply doesn’t work for some people. Most nights I do go to bed with the kitchen still a bit of a mess. Dishes are usually loaded and the dishwasher started, but counters aren’t wiped down and I’ve certainly not swept the floor!

I’m a morning person. By 8pm if I’m home I just want to crawl into bed, do a little reading and go to sleep. I have zero energy at that time of night.

I could try to force it, to change what comes naturally to me in order to meet what society tells us is the proper time to clean the kitchen but what does that really do for me? What would that really do for you? 

BETTER ADVICE - A SIMPLE KITCHEN CLEANING ROUTINE

So what makes a simple kitchen cleaning routine different? It’s simple because you don’t have to force yourself into something. You may need to think through your day to figure it out, but that’s the beauty of it. You are figuring it out. You are considering your life and your family in order to make your kitchen cleaning routine simple. The tasks may be the same as what you’ve been told or not, but I can assure you that the process in arriving at a simple kitchen cleaning routine is different than what you’ve done before and certainly not what society tells us.

Getting into a simple kitchen cleaning routine will make dinner time easier. Will make organizing your kitchen easier which will in turn make cleaning your kitchen easier! It’s this circle really. A circle that you and your family will cycle through periodically as each season of life comes and goes.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT A SIMPLE KITCHEN CLEANING ROUTINE

1. Decide what tasks in the kitchen you want to do daily. My recommendation is to unload the dishwasher, clear the counters, load the dishwasher, wash the countertops and start the dishwasher. I’m going to give you a little bonus tip - buy cheap pots and pans that you won’t feel bad about putting into the dishwasher. If you have a set of pots and pans that you can’t put in the dishwasher without ruining, then pack them up for now and go buy a cheap set from Target or WalMart. Trust me, it will be so worth it.
2. Once you’ve decided what the tasks are, time yourself doing all of them on a typical day. Add a few minutes for good measure and plan that this is how long it will take if you do the cleaning daily. Which is what I would recommend. HOWEVER, and this is a BIG HOWEVER, if daily doesn’t work right now that’s ok! Note that if the time between cleaning is increased, the time to do the cleaning will also be increased. It’ll just be more of everything that will need to be done. More dirty dishes, crusted food on the countertops, that kind of thing. Again, time yourself on a typical day - meaning it’s been a day since you last cleaned. I hope this makes sense! I just think that we are hit hard by messages from society that tell us we have to do things a certain way or a certain time or frequency otherwise we’re doing it wrong. Well, what works for one may not work for another. Life is about learning, growing and leaning into what comes naturally to you. OK. I’m off that soapbox!
3. Now that you know how long the cleaning will take, you can figure out when it’s the best time for you to do it. This must be a time that works for you within the scope of what comes naturally. Don’t force yourself to stay up later just to get it done. As an alternative you could wake up that much earlier and do the tasks in the morning. Perhaps, you are good with cleaning the kitchen prior to starting dinner. It could work! I mean, the kids could actually be helping! If all planned out, in my earlier story where I’d have a crying kid on my hip and toddlers begging for something to eat. Perhaps we come in and they are immediately given a snack while we run our simple kitchen cleaning routine. Wow, I like that idea a lot! It’s so easy to look back and realize what could have worked better, right?
4. So, you’ve decided what tasks you’ll do, you know how long they take and you know when it works best for you to do them. Step 4 is to write it all down. I implore you. This is critical. Do not skip this step. Documenting your plan tells you what to do. You don’t have to think about it, you just step into action. And if you find that your documented plan isn’t working you can modify it. It’s that simple!

So, now you have your SIMPLE KITCHEN CLEANING ROUTINE. Before you know it, you’ll be parsing off pieces of it to delegate to your kids.

Would you like to talk through your specific kitchen cleaning dilemma?

I’m here to help. It's super easy to enlist my free support. Go to www.homeorganizingforbeginners.com and click the Ask Me Anything link. 

I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks so much and have a great day!