This year, I have decided that I need to dedicate 30 days each month to make simple changes in my life that I can stick with. Permanently. I didn’t want to set a bunch of goals and fail miserably at them a few months from now. Like I have done every year in the past. So for the first 30 days of 2019 I decided that I would get the worst of the tasks marked off my mental list: The Dishes.
I want to build a new habit for myself this year. Clean my kitchen every night before bed.
I have to tell you that the first few days of this “make simple changes in my life” for the new year was stressful. The very first day, all day, I felt like I constantly needed to be on the lookout for stray dishes that needed to be taken care of. Immediately.
I finally calmed down and realized that the dish police were not going to break down my door at any moment. Once I relaxed and got myself into a routine, I was fine. This has always been my go to: routine. It keeps me calm. Calm is good. Otherwise, I want to go hide with a book and pretend I live there instead of dealing with my kitchen. Or my laundry, floors, toilets, etc. You get the idea.
My routine looks like this. The first thing I need to do in the mornings is unload the dishwasher. That way, when fairies or gremlins show up with random dishes, they have a place to go instead of hanging out on my countertop. Where they attract other things, which causes a snowball effect, and by the end of the day chaos has ensued. I just need to unload the dishwasher first thing. Trust me.
Now that I have a place to put dishes all during the day, I can clean as a fix supper. This simple addition to my new routine has been life changing. Note: Don’t hurt yourself rolling your eyes. Of course I knew to do this. I just never did it. However, since I have actually been putting this concept into practice, I don’t have a mountain of things to wash after we’ve eaten every night. Whatever doesn’t fit into the dishwasher has been soaking and is quick to clean and put away. Amazing.
Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty. Have I done this every single night? No. And I regretted it bitterly the next morning.
I stuck with this for the first six nights and then I fell off the wagon. Hard. I have no idea why. I just decided that going to bed and dealing with it the next morning would be easier. And at that very moment it was. But, I am here to tell you that the next morning when I opened my eyes, I knew. Before I even got out of the bed, I knew that my kitchen was not this lovely, clean space that made me happy just to walk into it. I dragged my feet; I didn’t want to go in there. I certainly did not want to go try to make coffee and breakfast for Liv at 6:20 AM. Who wants to try to cook, when last nights dinner dishes are staring at you? Not this girl.
So tonight, I heaved myself back onto the horse, and I cleaned my kitchen before I sat down to tell you all the gory details. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. But I did it and it’s progress. Progress is good.
Do you have plans to make simple changes in your life this year? I would love to hear about it! I’ll keep you updated on how it’s all going during the month of January. Let’s build some habits!
Tracie