Clean up daily

To become effective at anything we want to do, we need to be disciplined and organized in doing it. We need to build the habit of being disciplined. This is much harder to do than we imagine as there is a natural instinct to rest, recreate and procrastinate.

There is one simple and proven way to become disciplined.

To clean up daily.

Wake up and make your bed. Put the pillows back where they were, pack up the sheets or put them to wash and ensure the bed looks as perfect as if it was never slept in.

Brush your teeth, floss and mouthwash. In the morning and after every meal. Even in the office. It takes 1-3 minutes of your time at a time.

When working keep your desk clean. When you get up organize the pens, papers and all other things on your desk in a clean and organized way as it was never used before.

Clean up your email. Spend a few hours or if needed a full day to clean up your email. Delete the useless emails and unsubscribe to things you do not need any more. Read all the other emails. Reply to the ones that need to be. Clean up your email and go to inbox zero.

Clean up your home. See the nooks and corners that you need to clean. See the dirtiest areas that you have ignored for a while and clean them.

Clean up your relationships. If there are people with whom there is bitterness or things unsaid or hard feelings, call them and address the issue. Clean up the past feelings.

Clean up after you go to the toilet. Sounds obvious but how many times do we find that toilets are left unusable by the previous users. Leave things clean after yourself.

Clean up everyday , in every situation after yourself.

Make cleaning a habit to get disciplined.

In the second month replace cleaning with any other habit that you want to develop – meditation, prayer, exercise or anything else.

Cleaning is next to godliness. Cleaning is discipline.