How to Clean Your Kitchen When You Aren’t Motivated

Do you find yourself going to bed most nights with a sink full of dishes and clutter all over the counters?

I bet you hate it but you don’t have a choice. You have no energy or motivation at the end of the day and all you want to do is relax.

What if I told you that you could reset your kitchen every night in less than 15 minutes? What if I told you that could accomplish this even if you have a lot of kids?

I truly believe you can do this and live a simple lifestyle no matter what kind of house you have or how much stuff you currently own.

If I can learn to reset my kitchen every day while homeschooling my three kids, running a business from home, managing a hobby farm while renovating our 70-year farmhouse, and still go to bed at a decent hour, you can too!

Let’s go over how you can build the habit of resetting your kitchen every day in 30 minutes or less even when you aren’t motivated!

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Reset Your Kitchen By Establishing One Tiny Habit at a Time

The best way to reset your kitchen every day is to focus on one tiny habit at a time. Think of your whole kitchen reset as the macro-habit and each step within the rest as a micro-habit. 

When we minimize a task, we take away the overwhelm. We overcome the overthinking. It becomes a no-brainer.

Set Up Your Environment to Support Habits

Declutter the unnecessary junk in your kitchen. I know it scares you to get rid of things. Things you may need in the future or good things that you feel bad throwing away. Truthfully, all of that clutter is not adding to your life and is actually taking away from it. The more you own, the more you have to manage. 

If you need help beyond what you’re able to do on your own, I’m able to help you work through those thoughts that keep you stuck. Let’s schedule a consultation call and figure out what’s holding you back.

Organize and optimize your kitchen layout so you know exactly where everything goes and can be easily returned to its home. Organize your kitchen in a way that makes sense and supports the functionality of the kitchen. I go into more detail about kitchen organization in my Simplify Your Kitchen course which has over 30 step-by-step tutorials.

Set up your sink station so that cleaning supplies are simple, ready for you to use, and easily accessible. You are most likely to do a task when everything you need is right in front of your face as it will take away all your excuses.

Use Willpower to Accomplish Tiny Habits Every Day

When we lack the motivation to clean or tidy our home, we can depend on willpower to push us to the finish line. But willpower is hard to muster up for big cleaning chores. 

That’s why it’s important to break down big goals into tiny habits. We might not have the willpower to do a two-hour top-to-bottom kitchen cleaning but we can definitely use willpower to wash just one dish.

Here is a way to break down your kitchen reset into “tiny willpower habits.”

Habit #1: Focus on washing your own dishes as you use them

That’s exactly where I started when I decided that I no longer wanted to go to bed with a dirty kitchen. For the first couple of weeks, I focused on the simple act of washing my own dishes after I used them.

Work on Your Own Habits First

As moms, we’re quick to want to get our families on board with new routines and systems. But to be truly successful with your new habits, you have to focus on yourself. You have to put your life mask on first.

Something I said to a mom on a consultation call earlier this week when she reached out to me to help her establish systems in her home—

“Trying to change someone’s habits is like going to church, hearing a good message, and thinking about someone else who needs to hear it. It’s always best to work on ourselves first.”

My Simple Dishwashing Routine

Here’s what my simple dishwashing routine looked like when I was working to establish this tiny habit: wash, dry, and put away immediately after use.

To wash dishes, I have a spray bottle of diluted Thieves Cleaner or dish soap on the back of my sink. I simply rinse, spray, rinse again, and place the dishes on the counter.

To dry dishes, I keep a dishcloth by my sink or hang one on my oven door.

Then I simply put the dishes away. DONE! They are ready for the next time I need to use them.

It’s truly so simple to wash your dishes right away.

How Do You Stick With This Dishwashing Habit

When you were a kid, did you ever play the game “The Floor is Lava?” It’s a game where you have to walk on furniture and can’t touch the ground or you will fall into the lava.

What helped me stick with my dishwashing habit was thinking about the sink being lava and my dishes couldn’t touch it. When chores can be boring and mundane, I make it into a fun secret game for just you.

You will forever this of this now. You’re welcome!

Habit #2: Focus on clearing the kitchen sink every night

Now that you’re used to washing your own dishes throughout the day as you use them, it’s time to focus on cleaning the kitchen sink every night.

When Mom Feels Like a Slave

This part isn’t pretty because you’re going to be washing other people’s dishes. You’re probably going to feel like a maid, but now that you’ve been washing your own dishes for a couple of weeks, you realize how easy it is and how you can teach your kids to do the same. 

Don’t start training them at this stage just yet though. Remember, you want to go slow and steady because you need to focus on YOUR habits first or they will fizzle out quickly.

How to Clean Your Sink Faster

If you feel like it’s taking you a long time to clear your sink, I have a couple of suggestions that help me.

• Set a timer for 5-10 minutes and work to finish clearing the sink before the timer goes off. 
  
  
• Record yourself on hyperlaspe on your phone and share it on social media as a sort of accountability partner. You could also send it to a friend or your life coach. *wink, wink*
  
  
• Put your phone in another room. The biggest time suck is getting distracted by your phone. Here’s a cool habit control lock box if putting your phone away is too difficult.
  

Habit #3: Focus on clearing the counters and all surfaces

Okay, so you’ve accomplished washing your own dishes as you use them and you’re clearing your sink every night. Now it’s time to focus on clearing the counters and surfaces in your kitchen.

What is the Baseline for Your Counters?

If you’ve taken the time to declutter your kitchen, then you have a baseline for what you want your kitchen counters to look like when they’re reset. If you haven’t decluttered your kitchen, you can easily do that with my Simplify Your Kitchen video course.

Use a Container to Quickly Clear Your Surfaces

Working right to left or left to right in your kitchen, quickly pick out all the things that belong in the kitchen and return them to their homes. Grab a laundry basket and scoop in everything else. Now walk around your house quickly returning items to where they belong in other parts of the house.

Don’t Declutter During Your Evening Reset

This is probably not the best time to declutter your kitchen. You’re kitchen reset should be simple because if it’s simple it increases the likelihood that you’ll do it again.

Declutter when you have more energy because decluttering sometimes can create a bigger mess, and you don’t want a mess right before you go to bed.

The simplest way to deal with clutter during your evening reset is just to leave it in the laundry basket for the morning. Then you can simply carry the laundry basket of donations to your local thrift store or take the time to bag it up in the morning. 

I would not suggest heavy decluttering right before bedtime.

Habit #4: Focus on cleaning while you cook

Your daily kitchen reset is happening! You’re doing it. Now it’s time to make it even easier. I want you to now focus on cleaning up while you cook.

Cut Down the Time it Takes to Clean Your Kitchen

In our dishwashing system, I shared with you the benefit of cleaning your kitchen while you cook. This cuts down your time cleaning after dinner tremendously.

Also, simplify how many kitchen tools you’re using when you cook. You’ll have a lot less to clean up if you use utensils for more than one purpose.

Habit #5: Focus on habit-training your kids to wash their own dishes

If you’ve slowly worked through all of the tiny habits above, you are probably ready to start training your kids to wash their own dishes. But you might be wondering, why wait until now?

Because now… you have motivation!

You know what it feels like to wake up to a clean kitchen and you’re driven you achieve that daily!

Model and Set Expectations for Your Kids

Over the past couple of weeks, your kids have been watching you wash your own dishes as you use them. More than likely you have mentioned to them what you’re doing. You have been modeling good behavior and now you’re able to train them from a place of experience and expertise.

It’s time to have a conversation and get them on board. Take them over to the sink and show them how to wash, dry and put dishes away. Or show them how to rinse and load their dishes into the dishwasher after each use.

Supervise Your Kids During the Habit-Training Phase

Don’t just think you can show your kids this habit and expect them to do it every time. You will need to pay attention to them. This doesn’t mean controlling them or hovering over their every move, but being mindful to remind them what to do once they finish eating.

While sitting at the dining table, you could say something like, “Now that you’re finished eating, will you please go rinse your plate and fork and put them in the dishwasher?” Or, “Will you wash, dry and put away your plate and fork?”

Praise Your Kids’ Effort

If your kids feel good about their actions, they’re likely to do them again.

I used this method when I taught elementary school. I would say, “Ohhh… I like the way Johnny is sitting.” Johnny would then sit up taller and all the other kids would straighten up as well. Positive reinforcement works!

We all thrive on praise and to be noticed. You are going to have to make a conscious effort to pay attention to your kids’ actions and give them praises that they respond well to.

Don’t give up or give in. We are two years into this habit training and I’m still reminding my kids to wash, dry and put away their dishes. 90% of the time they remember to do it on their own and I do a happy dance!

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I’d love to hear from you!

What is your biggest struggle with resetting your kitchen at night?

P.S. If you’re reading this, I know you’re trying to be a great mom. So I thought you might be interested in reading about how to organize your kids’ sentimental things. I share some great ways to declutter your kids’ stuff while still keeping what’s most important to you safe.