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?

Well, here it is! My very own Joyful Jessie avatar.

Notice that my golden (dirty) blonde hair is swept back in a clip because I have dishes to do and it gets in my way. Normally I’d be wearing an apron because the water from my kitchen faucet always drenches the front of  me. I demonstrate my style by wearing stripes and the only tall boots I have ever owned, that are getting old – and I’m not quite sure if they are even in style anymore. I’d be wearing a knit scarf, but I never finish my knitting projects, so I’m wearing one I got as a hand-me-up from my little sister. I’m trying to look busy, but I’m not very organized. How does this datebook/planner work? What’s a list?

Psst! That is not actually my kitchen that I’m standing in. You can tell because,

1. There are fresh flowers in a vase,
2. The counters and floor are clean,
3. Where are the dirty dishes?!
4. I’ve never cooked a turkey before – and probably never will!

And now, the results of an interesting poll that I’d been wanting to post – until I lost the book it was in for a couple of weeks.

From The New Messies Manual, by Sandra Feltion:

How often do Americans change the sheets on their beds?

• Once a week – 52%

• Twice a week – 31%

• Once a month – 12%

• Less than once a month – 2%

I read this question to my husband to see what he’d guess, because he is the trivia king. I don’t want to tell you his guess, or our actual answer, because it’s like bearing a dirty little secret. Let’s just say we are not in the majority.

How often do you change your sheets?

But when I get myself to make coffee, put on some music, and this adorable apron that my talented little sister made me for a wedding, gift doing dishes without a dishwasher becomes a lot more tolerable. Almost fun! (Okay, that’s a lie!)

I love my pink dish gloves and various aprons. Aprons are especially important for me because we’ve lost the little round thingy that goes on the end of the faucet to direct the flow of water, so I always end up completely soaked in the front after doing dishes by hand. (I’ve also managed to break about 15 glasses this year. Housework is not my strong suit!!!!!! Hence, my extreme need for motivational attire.)

(***Note: When this was originally posted, it received 6 comments. Sadly, all comments have been lost.)