I started my Butterfly Bliss Housekeeping Edition last week, but after thinking it over and thinking about the metaphors of butterflies, I’ve decided that for this challange, I’m going to go with the metaphor of eating an elephant. The old story begins with the question, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer, of course, is one bite at a time. To me that symbolizes internalizing something and making it part of your being and that is what I want to do with the housekeeping habits I’m trying to instill in myself. Going forward, you’ll see my housekeeping challange titled “Eating the Elephant” and my general challange is Butterfly Bliss.
Goal–Have a Clean Kitchen
Progress
- Empty the dishwasher and actually put the dishes away when it is finished–I’ve done well with this one and as a result, I only have a few dishes left to be put in the dishwasher. Normally on weekends, I end up spending an entire day doing dishes.
- As dishes become dirty, load them in the dishwasher and start it when it is full.–We’ve still been piling dishes in the sink, but it has become more managable than it was before.
- Wipe up spills as they happen–Great progress on this one. I’m still not perfect, but I did make progress.
- Throw garbage away as it happens versus letting the empty boxes and cans sit on the counter.–Was fairly successful on this one. I did leave the garbage can without a bag in it for a day and that resulted in garbage on the counter.
Elephant Ears for the Week–I’m going to leave the same elephant ears as they are not ingrained yet.
- Empty the dishwasher and actually put the dishes away when it is finished
- As dishes become dirty, load them in the dishwasher and start it when it is full.
- Wipe up spills as they happen
- Throw garbage away as it happens versus letting the empty boxes and cans sit on the counter
Goal–Always have clothes ready to wear in the morning
Progress
- Put clothes away as soon as the dryer is done–I haven’t done perfectly at this, but I have started putting my clothes in one bag to take upstairs and put away. I need to figure out if I want to do laundry two or three times a week or do one big batch on the weekend.
- Mend clothes when buttons fall off etc, instead of sitting them aside to do something with later–Didn’t do this. I have a pair of pants that I need to sew a button on and I’ve been procrastinating.
- Put clothes away after work (hamper, hang up jackets, take jewelry off, etc.)–Did a pretty good job of this one. I have realized I’m really bad though about throwing my jackets in the backseat of the car. I need to do a better job at this.
Elephant Ears–I’m going to keep the same ones this week as I didn’t do a stellar job.
- Put clothes away as soon as the dryer is done
- Mend clothes when buttons fall off etc, instead of sitting them aside to do something with later
- Put clothes away after work (hamper, hang up jackets, take jewelry off, etc.)
Goal–Clean Living Room
I’m in the process of doing a deep clean on the living room, so some of these are getting taken care of that.
Progress
- Carry dishes into the kitchen when you are done with them–Have done a better job on this one, but I’m still not great. I ended up taking three things into the kitchen today that had sat there for a few days.
- Carry the kids belongings up to their room instead of waiting for them to do it–I did a good job at this one and I’m actually starting to get the kids to put there own things away.
- Put shoes away instead of kicking them off on the floor–Total loser on this one.
- Throw papers and other trash away instead of piling it up–Not a total loser, but I didn’t do a great job on this one.
- Go through mail once a week–I did go through the mail this week and didn’t let it pile up.
Elephant Ears–Not enough progress to justify moving on to new habits.
- Carry dishes into the kitchen when you are done with them
- Carry the kids belongings up to their room instead of waiting for them to do it
- Put shoes away instead of kicking them off on the floor
- Throw papers and other trash away instead of piling it up
- Go through mail once a week
Goal–Clean Bathroom
I made less progress in keeping the bathroom clean than in any other area. I’m still awful about throwing my clothes down and not in the hamper and at putting things away.
Progress
- Refill the toilet paper as soon as it is empty–I did do this one, but I didn’t carry rolls into the bathroom from the laundry room when I should have.
- Put clothes in the hamper instead of on the floor–Loserville on this one
- Put away bottles, jars, etc.–I did an okay job on this one, but not stellar.
- Don’t leave books, magazines, etc. in the bathroom–Did okay on this one.
Elephant Ears
- Refill the toilet paper as soon as it is empty
- Put clothes in the hamper instead of on the floor
- Put away bottles, jars, etc.
- Don’t leave books, magazines, etc. in the bathroom
Goal–Clean Family Room
Progress
- Don’t leave my computer bag sitting down stairs. Put it and all the related junk by my desk.–I was okay at this until Friday when I brought my bag downstairs and left it all weekend.
- Carry dishes and food upstairs as soon as I’m done–I was pretty good at this one.
- Pick up garbage (magazines, soda bottles, etc.) as soon as I’m done–There are still coke bottles sitting around that I left out.
Elephant Ears for the week
- Don’t leave my computer bag sitting down stairs. Put it and all the related junk by my desk.
Carry dishes and food upstairs as soon as I’m done
Pick up garbage (magazines, soda bottles, etc.) as soon as I’m done
Overall, I was really disappointed by my progress as I didn’t think that any of these things were that difficult. I do know that the house is cleaner than it was at the beginning of the week. I’ll just keep plugging away and eventually, these habits will become engrained.
Cairn by Cairn 