3 Lessons I Learned From Unloading the Dishwasher

Unloading the dishwasher has always been one of my least favorite tasks. In my head, I had always built it up to be this tedious, inefficient task that took a lot of time. And it can be — if you don’t load it the right way.

So loading the dishwasher has become a strategic game I play for myself:

What is the best way to place the dishes to make it most efficient to unload?

Recently, as I was about to make dinner I remembered that I needed to unload the dishwasher. I felt the familiar dread about how much time it was going to take.

So imagine my surprise when I realized that it took me less than 5 minutes to unload it and put everything away.

Turns out that unloading the dishwasher isn’t as tedious or time consuming as I had made it out to be.

Reflecting on my newfound efficiency, I had 3 insights:

(1) Attention and intention on the front end lead to greater efficiency on the back end.

It all comes down to how you load the dishwasher. Typically, I’m only putting in one plate at a time. It’s easy to be mindless about it and put it anywhere. But with intention for on my ultimate outcome and attention to what I’m doing, I set myself up for future success.

When you set something up well at the start (i..e., loading the dishwasher), the later task (unloading the dishwasher and putting away the dishes) takes less time and energy.

(2) Small things stack

One of my cornerstone life principles is that

The big things are in the little things.

You might not think much about the one plate you put in the dishwasher.

I can hear many people in my life saying:

No need to over-analyze how you’re putting a plate in the dishwasher. Just put it anywhere and move on. Let it be “good enough” for now.

And, sure, in the moment one plate or fork doesn’t seem like a big deal. But multiply that by many plates, bowls, and utensils in various sizes, and it adds up.

It doesn’t take more time to put that one plate in the right section with the other plates of its size. But it does take more time to unload and put away the dishes when the plates of similar size aren’t grouped together.

(3) Intention leads to better outcomes with less energy

Loading the dishwasher efficiently allows the dishwasher to do its job better, leaving you cleaner dishes.

When you organize the plates and utensils to keep like with like, it speeds up the process of unloading the dishwasher and putting away the dishes. You don’t need to reorganize it on the back end.

So overall, intention upfront means you need less energy to do the job well. That frees up energy for other tasks.

I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that loading and unloading the dishwasher is not the only place these lessons apply.

Where in your daily life can intention and attention help you be more effective?