Here’s our first habit! Read the background here if you’re just joining: 52 Weekly Habits for a more organized life
Tell the truth – how often do you look at the kitchen and say “Aaah, it’s not that bad. That’s not a full load anyways… I’ll wait til tomorrow.”
Tomorrow comes and you realize it was probably 2 full loads and there are not enough hours in the day to run it and unload, run it and unload. You never finish the second re-load, and the next day you have to pile breakfast dishes in the sink. Then you want to cook the yummy dinner that you thought about all day, but the pots and pans you need are dirty. So there you are either handwashing dishes or calling the pizza delivery guy again.
Or is that just me?
This week’s habit is easy-ish for starters – reboot the dishwasher daily. Unload it in the morning and load it before bed. Or unload it while you cook dinner and run it before you leave for work in the morning. Whatever works for you individually. You’ll be happy for this habit during the holidays since dirty dishes tend to spawn at an increased rate.
Every single day, go out of your way to do this, even if you see dust bunnies that need swept and laundry to fold. Do your dishwasher first.
If it’s full, run it – if it’s mostly full, run it. I’m not telling you to waste water and electricity, but if there’s only room for one dish and you’re a few hours from your next meal, you’ll be glad to ran it. If it’s not full, then by all means wait – but make sure you’re not working with tunnel vision and ignoring a sink full of dishes.
Empty it at the first opportunity. Make that easier by loading it in a way that makes sense. Put all the same size plates together, point silverware the same direction.
If you don’t have a dishwasher all of this still applies. Wash your dishes routinely – don’t let them get ahead of you.
Are you in? If you are, comment here and update on your progress. Time yourself loading and unloading or washing and putting away and post the results here. I bet the task does not take nearly as long as it feels like it will take. Keep this up for a week and beyond – it will be a conscious decision at first but it will become easier and more natural over the coming weeks.