Run the Dishwasher Twice

How a simple story changed my life and pulled me away from arbitrary rules that were holding me hostage.

I read a story once that really released me. It helped me see the world in a different way and allowed me some freedom in my own head. 

Here is a link to read the story in full (read it before reading the rest of this blog post because what I say won’t make sense otherwise). I’m going to share with you how my life changed after reading the story.

I remember I was sitting on my couch scrolling through the internet when I read the dishwasher story. I don’t remember how I got there or what site it was on, but after I read it certain things started clicking in my mind. I looked around the room that I was in. I saw dirty dishes everywhere, half-full pots on the stove, piles of trash littering the surfaces, unopened packages, food, flies...and I tell you what, I wasn’t even depressed, this was a regular day for me. Up until that point I thought cleaning had to happen in a set order of steps and done all at once. My house was a mess because I did not have the energy to clean the entire house. I had five minutes of energy and attention span. As in the story, I was struggling with dishes. I put on a five minute timer and made it a race to see how many dishes I could get in the dishwasher. I got most of the dishes (but not all) and ran the dishwasher on the heaviest setting. Mind you the dishes were not rinsed (I did flick the big chunks in the trash) and they were most definitely put in there without any order. My timer went off, I started the dishwasher, and I sat on my couch and scrolled the internet. 

After about thirty minutes of mindless scrolling the dishwasher story had fully marinated. I was ready to flex this new idea. In the past I thought you had to clean the trash, then dishes, followed by wiping the counters, dusting, vacuuming the floors, cleaning out the fridge/pantry, taking the trash out, then mopping, and steam cleaning the area rug. One event had to happen before the next. For example you have to wipe down the counters before vacuuming because you will knock crumbs from the counter onto the floor...and in order to wipe the counters the dishes and trash have to be cleaned up. I have reasoning behind all my steps (and madness). ANYWAY...back to my point, on this fateful day I said skip the steps, do what you want, anything is better than nothing. I got up and vacuumed, counters unwiped. But I DID SOMETHING. If I remember right I didn’t even vacuum the whole main room, much less the whole house. I took the vacuum and went for the large piles of hair that gather in the corners. That’s it, that is all I did that day. I went and took a nap after my moments of cleanliness. In fact, I took a guilt free nap because I DID SOMETHING. I woke up and played video games (Sims 4) for hours in my own filth. But I didn’t care because I DID SOMETHING. And the best part was knowing that tomorrow I was going to use the same philosophy. Maybe I’d do more the next day, maybe not, but I had freedom. I was no longer stuck to a list. I could do what I wanted when I wanted to do it. If I had five minutes and was feeling ambitious I could vacuum or gather dishes. I no longer had to have energy for a BIG clean up project, instead I could meet myself where I currently was energy-wise.

And you know what I noticed after about two weeks of applying this new philosophy, my house was cleaner overall. I found that I was able to find five minutes of energy all throughout my day. I would wake up and after breakfast I found I had the energy to pick up the dishes. Before I would have said no because my husband was still sleeping and I wouldn’t want the clinking to wake him. But after having a quick conversation with him we realized that the dishes weren’t loud enough to really wake up, and he even said that if it does wake him up he smiles a little because that's one less thing he has to do later. I’ll go about my day cleaning up a piece of trash, vacuuming a part of the room, cleaning the counters, or starting a load of laundry. But it doesn’t feel like a chore so much anymore because the work is broken up AND I am doing the task when I have the energy to do the work. My house is generally cleaner, I am happier, I have less anxiety about getting all the work done. So remember when you feel stuck there are no rules, meet yourself where you are currently at. DO SOMETHING, anything, any way.