1. Keep it minimal

A few years ago, my counters were lined end to end with appliances, jars, utensils, etc. I was perfectly content with that, and felt that my kitchen was tidy.

Someone had mentioned to me that I had SO much stuff on my counters. I didn’t think much of it because I liked my stuff displayed and within easy reach. Then I read an article about how it’s much better to put everything away in a cupboard so your counters are completely clear. That sounded extreme to me. Besides, there was NO way I could fit everything on my counters into my cupboards.

But then I tried it. And it was heavenly.

Without a bunch of junk cluttering up your counters, you have so much more room for prep work. Plus you’re more motivated to actually wipe down your counters if you don’t have to move everything first. And if anything is out of place, it’s super obvious.

2. Start with a clean kitchen

If at all possible, don’t start cooking until your kitchen is relatively clean. If you start cooking and your kitchen is already a disaster, you’ll just get depressed and throw up your hands in despair after cooking a meal.

If you start with a clean slate, you’ll be more motivated to keep it clean.

3. Wipe out the sink after doing the dishes

I know it’s super gross, but I used to leave all the little chunks of food from washing dishes in the sink when I was done. If you take 2 minutes to dump out the food scraps and wipe down the surfaces, your sink will be ready to go the next time you need to wash dishes.

4. Clean up spills ASAP

This is another one that we all know we should do, but neglect when we are in a hurry. The reality is, if you get to a spill as soon as possible, it will be so much easier to clean up. Dried-on gunk has to be soaked or scraped first, when it could have been cleaned up with a simple wipe.

5. Have set times to clean things you may forget about

I have found that forgetfulness is one of my main reasons for not getting certain chores done. When you have set days for doing certain things, it’s much easier to actually remember to do them!

For example, my stove used to get so grimy because I never remembered to wipe it down. Now that I have a set day for doing it, it’s much more likely to get done. I don’t always get to it on exactly the right day, but just knowing that it needs to be done once a week really helps.