Prioritize Organizing-Dishwasher
Prioritize Organizing-Dishwasher
You can achieve a more organized life in 5-minute increments.
Today’s 5-minute task is to empty the dishwasher “regularly”. Pick a time of day that works for you – first thing in the morning, when you get home from work, or after dinner. It only takes 5 minutes, maybe less. You can even delegate this task to your kids. By giving them a chore that benefits the whole family you teach them responsibility and why you should do things for the greater good and not just for themselves. Yes, it will take some time to get them on board and trained but then it’s off your “plate”. Do you see what I did there?
If you want everyone to share in the dishwasher unloading, consider getting one of these Clean/Dirty signs so everyone knows whats-what.
I accomplish this task, first thing in the morning and can complete it while my coffee is brewing. Easy Peezy! By the time I smell the caffeine I have emptied the dishwasher and put everything away. My kitchen is tidy and I am ready for the day.
By scheduling this mundane task you don’t have to rely on your memory – Is the dishwasher clean or dirty? Try it – Prioritize Organizing-Dishwasher in 5 minutes.
You can achieve a more organized life in 5-minute increments. Share on X
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Growing up, my chore was to empty the dishwasher first thing in the morning. I am NOT a morning person, and grew to dread this task. (It’s especially difficult to unload dishes and put them away quietly while everyone is sleeping!) I carried this dislike of the task to adulthood, as it’s the only must-do task on which I can’t really procrastinate. I’ve found that the trick (for me) is to do it while listening to a podcast. Unloading the dishwasher takes little, if any, active cognition, so I can focus on the podcast while puttering. Oddly enough, my sister also hates unloading the dishwasher, but we find neither of us mind unloading one another’s!
That’s interesting Julie how the chores could affect someone until their adult life. If we have a dishwasher and use it, we must empty it anyhow that works for our schedule. I’m glad that you found a way during podcasts to do it and get done.
We typically run it at bedtime and unload in the morning. The task is usually mine, although my son-in-law will do it if he is the first one up. The other two who live hear, not so much.
I agree that having a regular time just makes the task easier. Today’s appliances are very efficient, so you don’t really need to wait until it is full to exploding before running it.
Yes it’s great to find the time that fits our schedule. And if you’re an early riser and not tend to wake up anyone, best time to do it is in the morning. I agree on efficiency for new appliances.
Emptying the dishwasher is a 5 minute task most people avoid. At my clients, I see dirty dishes all over counters and tables because the dishwasher is full. It was easy in our house when after supper it was full, it ran, got emptied and was ready for the morning. No dishes sitting on the counter. Things got complicated when there were fewer people in the house and it was full at different times of the day and ready to be emptied at inconvenient times. The rule was if the dishwasher is clean and you have a dirty dish you empty the dishwasher and reload with your dirty dish. It always seemed like I had to unload the dishwasher. So I went on strike. I almost never unload the dishwasher and now it gets done by others, not as quickly as I would like but then I don’t have to do it. So yes, it only takes 5 minutes the problem is when will that 5 minutes happen?
That’s very true Julie, when will the 5 minutes happen? It’s to find the right time and maybe taking turns doing it.
I run my dishwasher at night and empty it first thing in the morning – like you – as my coffee is brewing. This dishwasher has a digital read out that says ‘clean’ once it has finished the run and dry cycle. Love it!
I find it to be very helpful and easy to just get it done while I’m in the process to start my day, we don’t have to worry about it later.