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 power phrases that stand for powerful principles – in this case 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 of one – work smart, not just hard.

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 potatoes or dough flipped out as you worked or some of the ingredients such as flour or sugar spilled over.

Use a splatter screen when frying food.

Cover items as you cook them in the microwave.

Use a tablecloth 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 up 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.

• Clean as you go, wipe as you work, pick up as you pass by, put it away rather than put it down, look back as you leave.

This is part of the training program froma well-knownfast 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 restaurants 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 found it – from their camping site to the vehicle they rode in. This is a worthy slogan for anyone to follow.

• Clutter attracts clutter – messes multiply. It’s the Broken Window Theory.

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 or breakdown because it indicates that no one cares, that no one 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 to room until eventually things get out of control and the entire house is in chaos.

• Develop a system rather than conduct a search – don’t lose it to have to find it.

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. Or please look to a future Meridian column about “Winning the Paper War.”

• Assign a “home” to everything (a place for everything, everything in its place).

In order to accomplish this, you need to dejunk, give away, and throw 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.

• Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful . (William Morrow)

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. Thje solution to an orderly home is not necessarily a bigger house, but a better organized one.

• Do today’s work today.

This will be the topic for this column in October.

• Skim before you scour. It’s when your house is in order that your work begins.

This will also be included in my October column.

• There’s no substitute for preparation.

Either you are prepared or you are not. You knew yesterday you would be hungry today; you knew today that you would need clean clothes in the morning. Be prepared!

• Put the house to bed before you go to bed .

In other words, tidy up the house before you go to bed. Put away the newspaper

and magazines, the glasses or hot chocolate mugs, return your reading material

to its proper place. This is a key to a good night’s rest AND you’re ahead the next morning before you’ve even opened your eyes. It’s true – an ounce of evening is worth a pound of morning.

• It’s just three weeks to a better me.

According to the experts who study human behavior, it takes only twenty-one days of doing something consistently to form a good 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. Amazing! Remarkable!

For example, challenge children to hang up their wet towels rather than dropping them on the floor every day for three weeks and a new, good habit will be born. (If this doesn’t do it, just take away the towels and family members can air dry!)

Who Am I?

I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do might just as well be
Turned over to me and I will be able to do them
Quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed – you must merely be firm with me.
Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons
I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great people and, alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision
Of a machine plus the intelligence of a person.
You may run me for profit or run me for ruin.
It makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet.
Be easy with me and I will destroy you.
Who am I?
I am Habit!

Author unknown

Power phrases – powerful principles. They’re worth making them habits for life’s routine duties. 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.

Please see this column on October 9 th for Do Today’s Work Today.