When you spend so much time in the kitchen making snack upon snack, and meal after meal, your kitchen can end up looking like a lunchroom war zone! Don't stress my friend, I have 3 easy-peasy things that you can do every day to keep your kitchen counters clean!

Don't worry, I know you are so busy and need them to be quick! These are things you can do in under ten minutes tops!!

First things first...

Set your dishwasher to run at night

The reason you do this is kind of two-fold: first of all, how awesome is it to wake up every morning to clean dishes (& a clean counter/sink area)?? Right?!?? 

But secondly, it's so that work can be getting done while you are sleeping. You won't have to wait around to unload the dishwasher at some point throughout the day. 

The second task you should do every day...

Unload your dishwasher first thing in the morning! 

It's an under 10-minute task, so just get it over with - trust me on this! 

You want to unload the dishwasher every morning so that throughout the day, you can be loading your dishes straight into the dishwasher once they are dirty. 

The kids can get in on this too! Have them rinse their plates and load them for you.

That way at the end of the day, when you are getting the dishwasher to run at night (cause it's like having a magical kitchen fairy there to do your dishes while you sleep), it will only take a couple of minutes to get all the dishes in. 

The last task to tackle every day is to...

Set a timer for 10 minutes each morning to clear your counters and put items away! 

Remember I said these would be quick things. This may not even take you 10 minutes!! 

After unloading your dishwasher in the morning, set that timer. 

Setting a timer for just ten minutes can be incredibly motivating (for kids & adults!) to bust through a task.

If you do this every single day, it's probably going to get easier and easier, because every day, there will be less & less to clean up and put away. 

That's it, lady! Set your dishwasher to run at night, unload it first thing in the morning (so you can load it throughout the day), and set your timer for ten minutes to clean up and put away items that are on your kitchen counters.

I triple-dog-dare you to try it for a week and then come back and tell me how it goes!! I'm positive you'll see an improvement and feel so much more peace in your kitchen space because you've got a system to keep your kitchen counters clean!!