Catholic Husband

Love / Lead / Serve

Clean House, Happy Wife

I love a clean house and a fresh start in the morning. I get up and work for about two hours until Benedict stirs and demands breakfast. Lately, I’ve been refining my evening routine to allow for more time to pick-up the house before bed.

I’ve noticed some significant changes since making this tweek to my evening routine. Each evening, I do a full cleaning of the kitchen and run the dishwasher, I pickup Benedict’s toys in the family room, prep the coffee machine for the morning along with our water bottles, clear the dining room table, and setup my desk to be ready for whatever work I’m starting with in the morning. In addition to setting up my physical workspace, I close all applications on my computer and open only the window I’ll need first thing in the morning.

I’ve found that it’s much easier to get out of bed in the morning and I’m able to more quickly shift from sleeping to working. The clean spaces and prepped workspaces have really allowed me to get up and running instead of spending time preparing. It would take me between 15-30 minutes before from wake-up to starting work and I can now do it in under 10 minutes. I’m also more productive and have a clearer head space. I’m not worried about what I have to do before I get to work and there aren’t any physical barriers slowing me.

I’ve found something else. Alison really loves it.

She loves the order and cleanliness that it brings to our home. Messes are no longer huge, unmanageable projects that have to be deferred to the weekend. Dishes are always clean and ready. Since the dishwasher is empty in the morning, breakfast dishes land in the dishwasher, not in the sink. It also means that she doesn’t have to worry about tripping over anything.

I start the evening cleaning around 8:15pm. The kitchen is already clean after dinner, so I begin with unloading the dishwasher. I then work from the front of the house to the back, and then upstairs in order. I’ve also found that this is a great way to close out the day. When everything is clean, I’m ready for bed because I don’t want to get the house messy again. There’s also nothing else for me to do. It’s a really awesome way to stay in control of my cleaning.

Clutter creeps and sinks fill up fast. With daily maintenance, I'm able to better manage our home and keep it clean for us. It took me two years to figure out, but a small investment of 15 minutes in the evening can result in huge wins in the morning.