Months ago, I started working on smart habits. For some reason, I allowed myself to become lazy and let my newly formed habits lapse. Now that I’m starting to get serious about my homemaking, I want to dedicate myself to building good habits.
Lara encourages people to start with small habits that will build on each other. Instead of saying that “I want to keep my house clean” I will start with smaller habits. Once I establish those smaller habits, I will find that my house naturally stays clean.
The first habit I want to establish involves eliminating dirty dishes. We are constantly washing a couple plates or forks while soaking pots sit in the sink. Ew.
Habit #1 – at the end of each day, all dishes will be washed, dried, and put away.
I’m almost ready for bed and all of my dishes are washed. It’s a great feeling.
They say that a new habit takes 30 days to establish itself! Your goal is a great one!
Thanks! I wonder if "they" are correct in that 30 day estimate. I hope I can establish a new habit in 30 days!
Way to go! I know I do much better when I work at establishing small habits one at a time instead of trying to overhaul my whole house at once (and getting burned out in the process.)
Have you ever tried Flylady? I'm not a dedicated follower of her system, but I do incorporate some of her principles (morning and evening routines, "swish and swipe", etc.) and have found them pretty useful.
I've tried overhauling the house all at once but I got burnt out pretty quick. That's a big chore!
I tried FlyLady once but she sent out so many emails and such that I got frustrated and unsubscribed. But she was my inspiration for starting with no dirty dishes, aka the shiny sink. 😉
Yeah–Flylady does send out tons of e-mails. I occasionally do the e-mail challenges, but I'm more fond of her basic principles or whatever that she has on her website. I think some people might like the hand-holding of the e-mails, but I prefer to just read about her system and then personalize it for my own needs.
I'll have to check out her basic principles. The one I most remember is having a shiny sink every day, which is what I'm trying to accomplish. It really does feel much better going to make breakfast knowing that your dishes are all washed!