Ever since we moved into this house, there’s a spot on the kitchen counter that’s had me beat.
I have not been able to keep it clean for the life of me.
It has driven me nuts for two and a half years, because it’s where EVERYTHING ends up – mail, toys, books, papers I don’t get around to filing, every random piece of anything that doesn’t really have a place.
Do you have a place like that in your house?
Here’s my good news: I have finally found the way to be FREE!!!
I was reading some kind of organizing something or other, can’t remember what, but these words stuck with me:
Clutter attracts clutter.
It made sense to me. If there’s a pile of junk, I will throw more junk on it. My family will throw more junk on it. I think to myself, “I’ll just clean all of this up later”, and keep adding to it.
There were times (when company was coming over!) when I’d whittle it down to nothing, and have a clean counter for an evening, but it never stayed that way for long, because the clutter would always come back, and multiply.
Since reading that clutter attracts clutter, I have made it my goal to make sure the clutter never starts. I don’t put anything on that counter.
And the weirdest thing has been happening: If I don’t put stuff on the counter, my family doesn’t put stuff on the counter.
What??! This has been going on for almost two weeks, and I can’t believe it. Every once in a while, the odd object will end up getting place there, and I clean it up IMMEDIATELY, so it doesn’t attract anything!!!
I never told my family what I was doing. I never announced that everyone had to stop collecting junk on the counter. They just don’t put it there anymore. So weird!!
Yesterday, Ben was loading the dishwasher after supper, and he suddenly said, “I’ve been noticing that the kitchen is a lot tidier. It’s easier to clean up after supper.”
That’s when I knew that big change was really happening – Ben noticed!! Sometimes I demand admiration from him for major accomplishments, but this time I hadn’t said anything, because I wanted to be sneaky about my experiment.:) (That sounds like he’s super unobservant, which isn’t completely true – mess just doesn’t bother him, so these things slowly, gradually dawn on him…)
With my success inspiring me, I’ve tackled the second junk area in our home – we’ll see if this one is equally successful!!
Do you have a spot in your house that has you beat? Where do you tend to pile things?
Ordinary Days 