Cleaning the kitchen is something I've never enjoyed doing, although a clean kitchen is something I enjoy very much. It's a conondrum that has taught me an important lesson: it's better to spend 10 minutes cleaning the kitchen than 60 or 90. And the way to spend only 10 minutes cleaning the kitchen is to clean the kitchen almost every day. Incremental effort over the long term is where everything happens. I used to ignore the one or two dirty dishes left over after eating until they became three or five, and then a mountain. Eventually it would get so bad that I would sigh, smoke a bowl, and spend the next hour cleaning. The trick is to nab those one or two dishes right then and there. And sure, sometimes I really don't want to or don't have time. The dishes will still pile up sometimes. But my tolerance for the size of that dish mountain has never been lower. And my satisfaction with my kitchen has never been higher. You don't have to do a lot, but you do have to do it every day.

(Or close to it.)