There are loads of jobs around the house that are boring as heck. One of my least favorite is house cleaning. I know we need to do it and I’m really happy with the results…but the process almost kills me every time.
I hate it.
I’ve done everything I can to make the job easier. I’ve got a kitchen cleaning checklist prompting me to do all the different tasks to be done. I’ve collected all my cleaning products and tools into a carry-all so I don’t have to go hunting for anything. And I try to schedule the cleaning during a time when I’ll be willing to do the work without having a lot of desire to go do something else. I’ve found cleaning on a rainy day, or at night, is better than trying to do the chores when it’s beautiful outside. That’s probably just me, but it’s a strategy I use.
But for years I would resist cleaning the kitchen with the effectiveness of a ninja. I would always find a competing project to work on, somewhere else to be, or pretty much any reason to not do the work.
For better or for worse, Hectic Mom would often come to my rescue. She would do a fast and efficient cleaning of the kitchen on a day when I was at a sporting event with one of the kids. Or she’ll do a quick cleaning in the morning before going to work. In the back of my mind, I know if I leave things long enough, she can’t put up with it anymore…and she’ll do the work.
But that’s not really fair. Let’s face it, I make the mess in the kitchen because I do all the cooking. While on the one hand it would be reasonable to say “well, I do the cooking, so she should do the cleaning”, that’s not really how life works. She’s got a lot of other things to do…and I’ve learned over time if I don’t have to do the cleaning I’m much messier during the cooking. So with the start of the new year, I’ve been trying something a little different to see if I can get myself motivated to keep the kitchen in better order. There are a couple of components to the process and I figured sharing them might be an aid to you if you’re struggling with the same problems.
First off, I’ve decided to rearrange where things are stored in the kitchen to make them easier to put away. One of my big hangups when I actually do get around to washing all the dirty pots & pans is putting things away. We let them dry on the counter…and then that’s where they sit until the next time I need to use them. It’s a bad habit I’ve developed over the past 35 years, so it’s been hard to break.
One of the bits of friction to putting things away is many of the items aren’t stored efficiently, so I often have to remove two items to put one away. That little bit of friction leads me to the excuse of not stowing the pots & pans after they’re dry. So I’ve been looking at our kitchen storage and working through how to make it easier to extract and stow things.
Part of the process has meant carefully assessing whether I need everything I have. On the one hand, I have a load of storage. Probably more than most people, so I’m not lacking in storage space. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have my cabinets stuffed full of equipment and other stuff. For instance, I’ve had a pasta maker for over 30 years. In the time I’ve had it, I’ve used it exactly twice. That’s not a good use of space.
It’s especially irritating because it’s just all enough that it has to go in the front of the cabinet where it’s stored…right in front of the bread maker. There’s a shelf in the back of the cabinet the pasta maker won’t fit under, but the bread maker sneaks under it without a problem. Of course, I use the bread maker three to four times a month…so I’m constantly hauling the pasta maker out, extracting the bread maker, and then stowing the pasta maker. Only to repeat the process when I’m done using the bread maker.
My first thought was to just get rid of the pasta maker. And honestly, that may be what I end up doing. But I’m also on this kick of trying to adjust how I’m eating, and making vegetable-based pasta is something I’ve had on my list for a while. So much so that I’ve been working on developing a series on the blog about how to do it. And to complete that series, I need the pasta maker.
Then I came up with this ingenious idea for the pasta maker, and everything else in the kitchen in the infrequently used, but potentially valuable category. I decided to put an expiration/use by date sticker on the pasta maker. I set if for three months in the future, just so I have time to actually get my act in gear and work on the veggie-pasta series. But…if I haven’t used it by the expiration date, then I’m going to have to make an explicit decision about whether I should get rid of it.
In fact, I did this for about fifteen pieces of equipment in the kitchen. To make it a little easier to remember, I created a spreadsheet listing the item, it’s location, and expiration date. Then I created a reminder to check the sheet once every two weeks. That will help me remember to dispose of things and/or use them. Honestly I’ve got enough infrequently used items that I sometimes forget I have them.
I also rearranged some of the cabinets so the frequently used items are more accessible, and the infrequently used items are kept together. In a way this seems counter-intuitive, since the infrequently used items will potentially end up out of mind, that’s why I created the list and reminder. But it also means putting away the bread maker is a lot easier.
The only hiccup in the plan came the first time I used the bread maker after the big move. I used it on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. Then I decided I needed to do a deep clean, so it was out on the counter for another two days for cleaning and drying. When it came time to put it away, I collected all the parts and trotted over to the cabinet with the pasta maker. I hauled the pasta maker from it’s perch, like I always had. I grabbed the bread maker and started to put it in the cabinet…and discovered the holiday chafing dish was in it’s spot. That’s when I remembered I’d made the change.
What I couldn’t remember was where the bread maker’s new home was. After 20 minutes of searching, cussing, and leaving all sorts of cabinet doors open, I finally found its new home. Before I stowed it, I had my second brilliant idea of the year…I placed a label that said Sunbeam Bread Maker on the bottom of the cabinet where the bread maker lives. I also put it into a different tab in my Kitchen Equipment spreadsheet. The latter was potentially overkill for this part of the task, but it solved an associated problem I had run into.
You see, with the start of my kitchen equipment reorganization project, I realized I had some borrowed items from the kids. And there were also some things they’d never taken with them when they moved out. So we started a family conversation about redistribution of equipment. As it turns out, not only did I have things that belonged to other folks, but they had things belonging to me. Some of them I really wanted back, others I’d obviously not missed.
In many of the cases, I’d forgotten who I’d loaned items to. In two cases, thinking I’d gotten rid of items, I bought replacements…only to discover I now had duplicates. In an effort to avoid the problem, I expanded my inventory sheet to include all my kitchen equipment. Then when I loan something out, I’m putting both who I loaned it to and an expiration for the loan into my spreadsheet.
To further make things helpful, I shared the spreadsheet with the entire family, so we can see if somebody close by has an infrequently used item before we go out and buy one. It’s already paid off three times with loaning/borrowing instead of purchasing. Plus, having the expiration for the loan in the same place as the expiration/use by date, I can do a quick review of all my equipment that much faster.
I know this all sounds supremely nerdy, and if you’re a better person than me and don’t have the amount of stuff that I do…then you probably don’t need all these tricks. I applaud you for your restraint.
On the other hand if you loan out a lot of equipment or you have a lot of stuff (or both!) this might be a way to keep track of things a bit better.
I’ve actually expanded my list to also include the date I got the equipment and when the warranty runs out. Probably the biggest advantage to that is knowing if I bought a warranty on the item at all. That’s not something you think about until the equipment breaks. I know I’ve been guilty of buying a replacement item when the warranty would’ve gotten my broken item repaired.
I’m still in the early days of this process, so I’d love to hear ways you’re solving these sorts of problems. Please put a comment on this post if you’ve got any tricks that might help others out.
My goal is to help everybody make it a great day in the kitchen and being able to find and use what you have is a huge step in the right direction. Plus, getting rid of things you don’t need is a noble goal…no matter how hard it is!