A Monster Standing Between Me and My Coffee

Some mornings, I am greeted by a terrifying sight.

You see, sometimes we (and I include myself in this “we”) will snack / cook / make popcorn in an evening, and not clean up the kitchen before going to bed. The next morning, I head to the kitchen only to find a big mess between me and my first cup of coffee.

Ahhhhh!!!

On a recent weekday morning, I spent 10 minutes setting my kitchen back to rights after some last night snacking. As I went through the usual list of tasks, I realized I could share this organized process! Especially considering that this phenomenon may happen other times of the day, too, like when I rush home from a client to get dinner started before a busy evening only to find stuff on EVERY COUNTER and no room to cook.

(I just read a Real Simple article over the weekend, that likened this trashed kitchen phenomenon to “the refrigerator exploding”, or “the monkey house at the Bronx Zoo”. It was a great article, click here to read the whole thing: http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/how-to-live-with-messy-person)

So here is what you need to clean up your kitchen in a flash!

• A system;
• An empty dishwasher;
• A dish pan (to corral your dirty dishes);
• A sink dish drain (no counter clutter!); and
• cleaning spray and a paper towel or cleaning cloth.

Here is the system

• Pick a counter to start, and move around the room:
• (30 seconds) Start with the easy: toss the trash, close the cabinets, put away the toaster or popcorn maker (for example);
• (30 seconds) Put away food (we’re good about putting perishable stuff away right away);
• (60 seconds) Load the dishes into the dish pan, and wipe down the counters with the cleaning spray;
• (2 minutes) Empty the in-sink dish drain and put away the dishes;
• (2 minutes) Empty the dishwasher if it’s clean;
• (60 seconds) Load the dirty dishes into the dishwasher; and
• (Optional – 60 more seconds) Run the garbage disposal, and then fill a dishpan full of hot soapy water and set any pans and non-dishwasherable items to soak.

Now, your kitchen is cleaned, or at least clean enough to start that first cup of coffee, assemble breakfast and pack lunches, or get dinner on the table!