I think I believed that I had cleaned the kitchen every day. But somehow my selective-mental-blindness had allowed me to block out the fact that I’d neglected to do the big stuff like the pot in which I cooked spaghetti and the big skillet I used to make chicken fried rice. Add to that NOT cleaning it up last night, and you have a big mess.
At 10:34 it looked like this:
At 11:13 it looked like this:Not perfect, but I’m good with it, and it was lunchtime. This one took a while because it also required moving things to their proper rooms and hanging up coats. LOTS of coats. I really need to get some screws so I can put up those coat hooks.
That’s my tap floor behind it, which I’m okay with. But clearing off that surface overwhelmed me too much to think I could get it done. Lame excuse, I know.
Buttercup says
I *love* your living room!! Happy birthday!
Mar says
Happy Birthday! I guess this post means that I need to get off the internet and time how long it takes me to:
1. Clean off the kitchen table
2. Clean out the refrigerator
3. Make lunch for tomorrow
4. Sweep and mop the kitchen floor
I have found out one thing this month – it's much easier and less mentally tiring to just wash the dishes rather than thinking that I should wash the dishes!
You have seriously inspired me to get organized and have decent, if not perfect, looking house. Thank you for that.
LilyBelleMommy says
I stumbled across your blog probably 3-4 weeks ago at orgjunkie.com for MPM. I then became enthralled with your writings. I truely thought it was me writing them. You have inspired me to try to organize my house especially since we are moving soon and I used to have a daily chore list for myself years ago and I just decided to do it again. But this post BLEW MY MIND I always think oh I don't have time to clean the house for whatever reason, I have to go to work, my daughter has to go to gymnastics, I have school tonite, Dr. appts, you know ANY excuse. But now maybe those excuses can be my time clock. Maybe I can clean the kitchen before gymnastics or something like that. Thank you for this post.
Mar says
Just a quick update. I did eventually get off the internet last night and spent almost two hours cleaning my kitchen, although that was mixed in with loads of laundry, getting the cat inside, eating dinner, etc. My kitchen is now CLEAN! And it's still clean today! The kitchen table hasn't been this clean since Christmas Eve! Thank you for posting this – it really hit me and got me moving.
Shanna says
Your living room picture has made me miss that rug!! I have bought it twice whenever a baby is old enough for tummy time but then each time had to throw it away because of cat pee. Well, he finally went to the great mouse hunting grounds in the sky and I picked a different, more costly rug for the most recent baby. Just a warning to anyone -those thick looong fiber carpets never come clean with the vacuum-even if you hand vacuum with the hose. Almonds from weeks ago will suddenly POP out of the rug. I haven’t had a major spill but I’m pretty sure there is no way to get it out carpet that thick.
Ok, 2 more posts and then it’s dish time!!! Thank you Nony!!!! And bless you too!
MG says
I love this idea. I use a timer in my kitchen to keep me on task sometimes. Like 5 minutes per counter, 5 minutes for dishwasher etc. but I’ve never thought of timing a task just to actually get a good feel for the time it takes. Thanks!
Heather Anderson says
Thank you!!! Thank you for this post especially at this crazy time in my life when I too am trying to un-slobify my life. Makes a huge difference when you realize a task only takes a few minutes 🙂
Atia says
Dana,
What’s wrong with you??? You’ve cleaned up a number of rooms in your house in a short space of time & your worrying about lame excuses for what you haven’t done!?! OMG… you have done an amazing job & have inspired me that I too can do it!
GOD BLESS YOU!
Love from the UK x