Room
Kitchen
The kitchen is the busiest room in the house, and the one 6S pays back fastest, because you cross it a dozen times a day and feel every extra step. Start at the sink: it is the room's recovery point, and every other zone eventually drains into it, so nothing else can be judged fairly while dirty dishes have nowhere to be. Then work outward to the counter and the hob, and save the refrigerator for a morning when you have real time.
The 7 micro zones, in working order
A micro zone is one session, not a whole day. Finish one before you start the next.
- The Primary Prep Counter (45-75 min)
The stretch of counter where food is actually cut, mixed, and plated. - The Cooking Zone (45-75 min)
The step of space either side of the burners where cooking happens with your hands busy and heat already on. - The Sink and Dishwashing Zone (30-45 min)
The washing point for dishes, hands, and produce, and the place the whole kitchen resets from. - The Upper Cabinets (30-45 min)
Light storage at eye level and above for the dishes you reach for every day. - The Lower Cabinets and Cookware (45-75 min)
Deep, low storage for the heavy pieces: pots, pans, lids, bakeware, and the big bowls. - The Utensil and Utility Drawers (15-30 min)
The shallow drawers holding hand tools: flatware, spatulas, peelers, measuring spoons, foil and wraps. - The Refrigerator and Freezer (60-90 min)
Cold storage that has to keep food safe and show you what you already own before you shop.
For this room
- {'label': 'Where to start', 'text': 'Do the Sink and Dishwashing Zone in one sitting and hold it empty for a week before you touch another zone. A sink with dishes in it makes every counter decision look impossible; a sink you can see the bottom of makes them obvious.'}
- {'label': 'Cleaning note', 'text': 'Grease first, then germs. Disinfectant cannot reach through a film of cooking oil, so wash food surfaces, the hood, and the splash wall with warm water and dish soap first, then apply the disinfectant and give it the full time its label asks for.'}
- {'label': 'The trap', 'text': 'The counter is where the kitchen loses. It is flat, it sits in the middle of the house, and it accepts anything: mail, keys, school forms, a phone, the bag from the pharmacy. Every one of those belongs somewhere else, and until they get sent there you will keep re-cleaning a surface you never get to use.'}