The Habit of Putting Things Away
January 29, 2009 by Karen Weideman
Filed under Cleaning, General Housekeeping and Homemaking, Organizing and Clutter Control
I have developed a habit. It hasn’t been an easy one, but I try to stay at it.
I try to put things away when I’m done with the them.
When I take off my clothes, I try to put them in the hamper. When I take off my shoes, I try to put them in the closet. When I’m cooking, I put things back as I’m done using them. Of course, I am human and sometimes many times fail. However, I have found that if you stay at it, your life will be easier and your house will be much cleaner!
Just a few minutes ago I finished cleaning up the house. I picked up a few socks off the floor that the kids had left, loaded a few dishes into the dishwasher, handwashed a few pots, wiped off the counter, strained up the dining room, and then my bedroom. All of this took only about 15-20 minutes.
It may be hard to get into the habit, but when you do this, you will be impressed with how clean your house stays. Sure, there may be a few on-going clutter areas. For me, it is a spot on my kitchen counter and the top of my dresser. They seem to be catch-alls for things. So long as everything else is picked up, it’s easy for me to overlook those troublesome places and find pleasure in my home being clean.
I’m trying to teach these habits to my children. And tomorrow is another day . . . The secret to success is making small changes.
How about you? Do you put things away when you’re done with them?
image by Karen
I need to do this more too!
I am terrible about putting things up after I am done. DH always fusses that I leave a door open or walk over a toy or paper on the floor several times before picking it up.