This post will not make sense to naturally clean people.
Oh well.
The Joyful Housewife is about my journey not theirs – and my personal struggle is with clutter, disorganization, and procrastination – especially when it comes to cleaning.
Following are my cleaning and clutter- busting goals for the next month (Febuary) These are easy things I can start doing regularly that will make me feel better. They are also things that I’ve long had huge aversions to doing.
Blech
1. Wipe my kitchen counters every night.
I can’t explain why, but I hate wiping counters. When I mention this to people they say things like,
- “I love wiping my kitchen counter!”
- “I ALWAYS have to wipe my counters. I’m like obsessive about it.”
- “It gets so gross if you don’t wipe it.”
Well they’ve already discovered what I’m learning. You really feel better when it’s done – and it’s not that bad to do it. The mental benefit definitely outweighs the physical cost – if only it weren’t so hard to remember that.
2. Clear off and wipe down dining table every night. It really improves my morning when I walk into the room and the table is all cleaned off and wiped down. I think we let things pile up on the table because we don’t have storage space, or know where to put things.
3. Wipe bathroom counters weekly. It is so much easier do to when it hasn’t gotten overly dusty 
4. Empty bathroom garbage cans every couple of days. It just looks gross when the wastebasket is full – and then I stress-out when I want to invite someone over or someone stops by.
5. Abide by the “one-minute rule”* to avoid procrastination. I stumbled upon this idea at Gretchen Rubin’s website about her best-selling book The Happiness Project. She explains it in a few different posts and videos. Basically, if it will take less than a minute, like rinsing a dish, putting it in the dishwasher, filing a piece of paper, etc, then just do it right now. A lot of little things can really add up if you don’t just do them immediately, before they can even have an effect on your psyche.
How does this schedule sound to all you naturally clean people. Does it sound about right?
