New dishes don’t normally flood our homes, so why do they tend to fill (and sometimes overflow) our sinks after use? Here are a few possibilities:
- It feels like there just isn’t time to accomplish the task.
- The person assigned to wash dishes (or loading and unloading the dishwasher) has not been reliable in doing the job – possibly because of a dislike for the chore.
- There is a storage or space issue.
Dishes are one of those areas where you can apply the good, better, best principle where you start with just the bare minimum and build from there. For example, for a plethora of reasons (pest prevention not the least among them), I recommend emptying your sink of dirty dishes each evening; however, if that’s not doable for you, choose another time of the day and block it on your calendar so it actually gets done. If daily just isn’t possible, try for two, three, or four times a week, but again schedule it in and keep it consistent! I also recommend having a back up dish day in case of weeks where emergencies or special events crop up.
If you, or your child, are struggling with a dislike for washing dishes, try listening to music or watching a show (but make sure your phone or other device doesn’t fall in the water!) while you work. Even better, build in time for a favorite task afterwards as a reward. If you are in a couple or roommate situation, choose a good time to have an honest yet nonjudgmental conversation about the division of tasks within your space and decide if you want to trade or alternate tasks so that you are not the primary dishwasher. If you are an adult and find that lack of time and/or distaste for dishwashing are getting the best of you, but you have enough money to hire a housekeeper, this is another great option.
On the storage or space side, if it isn’t clear where clean dishes go, they often . . . don’t. If cabinets and drawers are packed too full, anyone who is trying to put dishes away will have a frustrating and futile experience. To fix this, we follow the usual protocol for decluttering (but if you have a lot of breakables, try to do this when you have a bigger chunk of time to have children/pets supervised in another room). Start by pulling everything out and, depending on quantity, separate by type and then do your keep/don’t keep decisions OR sort it by type and then decide what to keep in the kitchen vs. keep elsewhere vs. donate/discard/recycle/trash. If you know you have a lot of glassware in multiple places, for example, it is better to gather them together first so that you can choose your favorites more easily.
Once you are done sorting, start on the storing by putting “like with like” i.e. drinkware together, plates and bowls together, mugs near the tea kettle or coffee maker, etc. If you have a very large kitchen, or one that is densely packed, you may prefer to go cabinet by cabinet, drawer by drawer, but just know that this will take longer (which is okay) and if you are not living alone, make sure those sharing your space know which areas you have completed so there isn’t any backsliding. AFTER decluttering is the best time to decide if you need any products such as drying racks, risers, drawer dividers, etc. and remember to measure twice before ordering!
