Definition Adventures: "Clean the kitchen." Day 1
I've been reading The Slob Comes Clean Blog backwards for some time now. I'm on Year Two and I've listened to the podcasts. But what does she mean by clean the kitchen? I bet this is obvious to most people. Apparently even to a slob blogger, but not to me! I know I do clean in the kitchen, but I want it to be something I can say 'this is what it means to clean the kitchen each day' and then recognise when I have done so. Whenever I think about daily kitchen cleaning I get overwhelmed. Why? Because I overthink it. If I'm going to clean the kitchen I need to scrub out all the cupboards and sanitise the counters. I want to get underneath the dishwasher and the stove. It's serious.
I'm not looking for serious. I'm looking for something I can do every day in 5-10 minutes. Like dishes and sweeping, cleaning the kitchen seems to be a necessary every day task. And I always overthink it.
So I've decided to do a 3 day definition adventure. Over the next three days I'll clean the kitchen every day and hopefully through doing so I'll find a definition that works for me.
Now, you might say 'but Jesse, overthinking is what got you into this mess.' Yep, I know. But thinking is what I do, so let's see if I can use it to get me out as well.
I started with a definition. What am I looking for?
1. I want it to be quick. 10 minutes max.
2. I want it to be cleaning, not picking up, not tidying, not straightening, and not loading the dishwasher. It's about cleaning the kitchen. Cleaning means removing dirt and detritus from daily kitchen work.
3. It needs to follow the visibility rule. That means no cleaning out the cupboards. It's about cleaning up regularly used spaces.
So today I set a 10 minute timer. And forgot to take a before photo the first time, but you can see the second one from day 1 at the start of the post. It's not perfect but the counters are clear. And this is my new 'kitchen cleaning cauldron.' It's bright red and I love it. I've been deliberating what I could use it for. I love it, but have been telling myself to get rid of it because it doesn't have a purpose. Let's see if this gives it one.
Above I defined cleaning as "not picking up". But I had to pick up: I had just made lunch and things were all out and about everywhere. So I picked up. I took my lap top, note book, and my new Greek text to the office. I put all the dirty dishes in the sink to be loaded into the dishwasher. I emptied the compost.
I was reminded of how bad our house used to be when I saw a little bit of mould in the rice from Monday as I threw it out. We used to deal with mould regularly. Partly this is because we live in a basement. Partly it's because food got lost in the back of the fridge and we were always getting behind on dishes. Getting an air purifier helped. Getting a dishwasher helped. Running the dishwasher every day has helped an unbelievable amount.
And then, once everything was clear, I wiped down the counters. I wiped down the stove. The timer went off. I ran over and wiped down the table.
The results? The kitchen looks nice. And I feel like I did in fact do a daily cleaning.
What will I change tomorrow?
Tomorrow I will load the dishwasher before doing my kitchen pickup. Dishes were a large part of what was hanging out on the counters. I think with those out of the way I might be able to make this the 'five minute kitchen cleanup' but we will see. I would like to wipe down knives and cast irons during those five minutes, take out the compost and garbage, and fill our water dispenser. I'm guessing this will stay at ten minutes.
How do you clean your kitchen? Leave a comment below and let me know your ideas. If it seems really straightforward all the better for me!
 |
| Before |
I'm not looking for serious. I'm looking for something I can do every day in 5-10 minutes. Like dishes and sweeping, cleaning the kitchen seems to be a necessary every day task. And I always overthink it.
So I've decided to do a 3 day definition adventure. Over the next three days I'll clean the kitchen every day and hopefully through doing so I'll find a definition that works for me.
Now, you might say 'but Jesse, overthinking is what got you into this mess.' Yep, I know. But thinking is what I do, so let's see if I can use it to get me out as well.
I started with a definition. What am I looking for?
1. I want it to be quick. 10 minutes max.
2. I want it to be cleaning, not picking up, not tidying, not straightening, and not loading the dishwasher. It's about cleaning the kitchen. Cleaning means removing dirt and detritus from daily kitchen work.
3. It needs to follow the visibility rule. That means no cleaning out the cupboards. It's about cleaning up regularly used spaces.
 |
| After |
So today I set a 10 minute timer. And forgot to take a before photo the first time, but you can see the second one from day 1 at the start of the post. It's not perfect but the counters are clear. And this is my new 'kitchen cleaning cauldron.' It's bright red and I love it. I've been deliberating what I could use it for. I love it, but have been telling myself to get rid of it because it doesn't have a purpose. Let's see if this gives it one.
Above I defined cleaning as "not picking up". But I had to pick up: I had just made lunch and things were all out and about everywhere. So I picked up. I took my lap top, note book, and my new Greek text to the office. I put all the dirty dishes in the sink to be loaded into the dishwasher. I emptied the compost.
I was reminded of how bad our house used to be when I saw a little bit of mould in the rice from Monday as I threw it out. We used to deal with mould regularly. Partly this is because we live in a basement. Partly it's because food got lost in the back of the fridge and we were always getting behind on dishes. Getting an air purifier helped. Getting a dishwasher helped. Running the dishwasher every day has helped an unbelievable amount.
And then, once everything was clear, I wiped down the counters. I wiped down the stove. The timer went off. I ran over and wiped down the table.
The results? The kitchen looks nice. And I feel like I did in fact do a daily cleaning.
What will I change tomorrow?
Tomorrow I will load the dishwasher before doing my kitchen pickup. Dishes were a large part of what was hanging out on the counters. I think with those out of the way I might be able to make this the 'five minute kitchen cleanup' but we will see. I would like to wipe down knives and cast irons during those five minutes, take out the compost and garbage, and fill our water dispenser. I'm guessing this will stay at ten minutes.
How do you clean your kitchen? Leave a comment below and let me know your ideas. If it seems really straightforward all the better for me!
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