by Daryl Hoole
How often do we remind ourselves that “A stitch in time saves nine,” or “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Or we hear the familiar voice of our mother warning us that, “Haste makes waste.” Most of us have been raised on such proverbial wisdom.
In addition, many families have their own personal repertoire of short sermons that teach a lesson in a dozen words or less. At our house I like to think of these one-liners as little things that can make a big difference. In this case they are principles applicable to keeping our homes clean and comfortable for the happiness and well-being of our family. Following is a list of some of them:
- No meals on wheels.
In other words, no eating on foot. Why should mom (or anyone for that matter) have to clean three rooms because someone ate one cookie! There’s really more to this than just keeping crumbs and spots off the floor—it’s about respect for someone else’s time and energy and being good stewards over our homes.
- Stop dirt at the door.
Keep porches, entryways, steps, and walkways swept to avoid tracking in the house. Clean doormats, inside and outside, regularly. This saves wear and tear on floor coverings; it creates a feeling of welcome, it makes a good impression (you never get a second chance to make a good first impression), and it’s a clear sign that the inside of the house also reflects TLC and something lovely awaits you.
- Don’t make two jobs out of one.
We can say it in one word—efficiency! It’s smart to avoid spills, splashes and messes in the first place so we don’t have to clean them up in the second place.
To avoid unnecessary cleaning from spills, work over the sink. For example, if you’re pouring something such as a sauce or gravy from one container to another, doing so over the sink can cut down considerably on the clean up should you spill, and of course much of the time most of us do spill. Certainly our children spill, so it helps a lot to teach them to work over the sink.
To avoid messes as you prepare food, place your mixing bowl in the sink and mash potatoes, whip cream, mix cakes and cookies, and perform other potentially messy tasks there. Then there’s no need to clean the cabinets, window, curtains, or yourself because the cream spattered or some of the potatoes or dough flipped out as you worked or some of the ingredients such as the flour or sugar spilled over.
Use a splatter screen when frying food.
Cover items as you cook them in the microwave.
Use a table cloth for instant absorbency for children who are inclined to spill as they eat. (One mother claimed she bought 4 gallons of milk, 3 for the family and 1 for the floor.)
Protect waste baskets with plastic liners.
Use organizers in drawers to keep small items separate so you don’t have rubber bands getting mixed u p with paper clips or hair accessories tangled with the curling iron cord. Furthermore, such organizers keep the contents from shifting as the drawer is opened and closed.
- Make the moment count: Clean as you go, wipe as you work, pick up as you pass, put it away rather than put it down, look back as you leave.
This is part of the training program from a well-known fast food chain. They teach their employees to do it NOW rather than leave it for a job to be done later. It’s a time and money saver as well as a big help in keeping their restaurant clean and neat. It works well at home, too. This is efficiency in action.
By the way, the habit of looking back as you leave has saved many of us from leaving a purse or a shopping bag behind.
- Leave any area better than you found it.
Closely related to the last point is to do what good Scouts are trained to do: Leave any area better than they find it—from their camping site to the vehicle they ride in. This is a worthy slogan for anyone to follow.
- Clutter attracts clutter—messes multiply.
If there’s nothing on the dining room table except an attractive centerpiece, chances are no one will clutter the table. However, if someone, in a hurried moment, deposits car keys, a handbag, and a stack of papers on the table, there will be a revealing ensuing chain of events. Within the hour another stack of papers will have landed there, along with a couple of books and a backpack. By the end of the day the entire table is likely to be littered, and a sweater has been draped over the back of one of the chairs. The once-attractive dining room table with its lovely centerpiece has become the family “catch-all” or “landing pad.”
This type of chain reaction is often referred to by sociologists as “The Broken Window Theory” and was originally identified by the New York City Police Department. This theory claims that any sign of social or physical neglect in a neighborhood invites further neglect and breakdown because it indicates that noone cares, that noone is in charge. Wrongdoers who see a broken window, therefore, may think they can get away with mugging, burglary, and other crimes and misdemeanors. Therefore, the first broken window or street sign or the first graffiti or other evidence of vandalism can lead to neighborhood deterioration if not attended to promptly.
In effect, any neglect or disorder in a household becomes a “broken window,” so to speak. If not checked quickly it can spread from room t room until eventually things get out of control and the entire house is in chaos.
- Develop a system rather than conduct a search.
Set up filing systems for valuable documents and important papers. When one of our sons married, he and his wife set up a file for “important papers,” but after a while they needed another category so they added “very important papers.” They laughed at themselves as they realized they needed to categorize documents according to real estate, insurance policies, tax information, vehicles, and so forth.
For help in setting up a successful filing and retrieval system, turn to pages 17-19 in my new book, The Ultimate Career—The Art of Homemaking for Today.
- Assign a “home” to everything.
In order to accomplish this, you need to dejunk by giving away and throwing away. Then maximize closet and cupboard space with organizers—built-in, professionally installed, or improvised through your creativity. Magazines and catalogs are full of helpful ideas.
Live by the words of William Morrow who said, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.
Keeping a neat, orderly house is the fundamental principle in home management. In other words, all other principles of home management are contingent upon this one. The solution to an orderly home is not necessarily a bigger house, but a better organized one.
- Do today’s work today.
I often compare managing a day to constructing a building where you have a cornerstone, a foundation, and then a structure.
Begin by laying the cornerstone, so to speak, which is to take care of yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually every day.
Every day make beds, spot clean bathrooms, pick up and wipe off throughout the house, prepare and serve meals, spot clean the kitchen, do the laundry, etc. Then after laying this firm foundation, you’ll be amazed how high you’ll be able to build (heavier cleaning, projects, activities, etc.).
(For additional information plus stories and examples, see Do Today’s Work Today.)
- Skim before you scour.
It’s when your house is in order that your work really starts. Wipe off everything before you scrub anything.
- Be prepared—there’s no substitute for preparation.
Either you’re prepared, or you’re not. You knew yesterday you would be hungry today; you knew yesterday you would need clean clothes this morning. Be prepared!
- Put the house to bed before you go to bed.
In other words, you, along with the help of other family members, should tidy up the house before you go to bed. Put away the newspaper, magazines, and books, the glasses or hot chocolate mugs, hand up your clothes, and so forth. This is a key to a good night’s rest, and you’re ahead before you’ve even put your feet on the floor in the morning. It’s no fun to wake up to yesterday’s work.
Remember, an ounce of evening is worth a pound of morning.
- Keep house, don’t just clean house.
Some houses are either too clean or too dirty. When the house is too clean, you’re uptight. When it’s too dirty, you’re discouraged, inconvenienced, and embarrassed. Things go from bad to worse.
It’s smart to manage, to maintain, to keep up a standard.
I don’t believe in cleaning house for company. I keep house for the family; company is welcome anytime.
- Revitalize your life by keeping the Sabbath.
In order to keep Sunday holy you have to keep Saturday hopping. Keeping the Sabbath is a refreshing rest from the routine. I have a more productive Monday and a better week after honoring Sunday. Now, I know no Mormon Sunday is a day of rest; it’s just that you do the Lord’s work instead of yours and that makes all the difference.
We serve the best meal of the week, prepared ahead on Saturday, so the children associate a good dinner with going to Church and keeping the Sabbath day holy.
We are blessed both temporally and spiritually through Sabbath observance as promised in D&C 59:9-10. There we read that by keeping the Sabbath we will “more fully keep ourselves unspotted from the world.” In a world on filth and degradation, this is a wonderful promise of a blessing from the Lord, a blessing certainly worth claiming for our families.
- Remember, it’s just three weeks to a better me.
Once I asked a group of teenage girls, “How many of you know how to make a bed?” They all looked at me like “duh” as they raised their hands. Then I said, don’t raise your hands, but how many of you know how to make a bed everyday?” There was stunned silence. The point was evident; it’s not the knowing, but the doing that counts!
According to the experts who study human behavior, it takes only twenty-one days of doing something consistently to form a habit. In other words, it can be just three weeks to a better me! Poor habits can be exchanged for good ones or a new one can be cultivated in three short weeks. Good habits are liberating.
This list of little things that can make a big difference is powerful! It’s worth it to make each one a habit in your home management. The returns will be good habits for the entire family, allocating much of the daily doings to the automatic pilot of habit, thus freeing you up to build relationships and enjoy creative pursuits.
