How to motivate yourself to wash the dishes by breaking it into smaller chunks (without a timer) - a printable at the end

There are other people who just cannot get motivated to wash the dishes by hand.  I used to be one of these people.  I would look at my kitchen and think to myself, this will take hours to clean.  I don’t want to do it, I’d rather do something fun. The only way is to trick my mind into not thinking about the whole process, but just focus on the smaller steps.

Sometimes a task seems overwhelming, but by only focusing on the next step and not the whole project a person can get it done in a jiffy.

So here we go – how to wash the dishes by hand, step by step.  The dishes below are 2 days worth in my house of 2 people (myself and my husband).

There is a printable image (without the photographs of the progress) at the bottom of this post!

The kitchen when I started (12:02pm):

Step 1: Pack away and throw away anything that doesn’t need to be washed.  Spot the difference in the pictures above and below.  It already looks better doesn’t it? Time: 5 minutes – 12:07pm

Step 2: Collect all the dishes and place them together in one spot.  I collected from all over the house and put them together on the kitchen table.  It is also useful to put all the dishes of a similar type together, so all the bowls together, all the glasses together and all the coffee mugs together.  See the difference in the background of the picture above and below!  Time 5 minutes – 12:12pm.

Step 3: Get the sink and all the stuff ready for washing dishes.  I recommend getting some rubber gloves.  The hotter the water the easier the dirt comes off the dishes.  Time 1 minute – 12:13pm

Step 4: Wash all the eating utensils first. Gather them up nicely together and wash them first in the cleanest water (since these go into your mouth).  I also including the dishing up spoons, chopping knives and so on in this bunch.  The pot in the picture below was only what I used to hold them.  I did not wash the pot yet. Time: 7 minutes – 12:20pm

Step 5: Wash all the glasses. The next step is to collect all the glasses next to the sink (or into the sink) and wash them.  I put fresh water in the sink at this step, but you must judge if it is necessary.  Total time: 5 minutes – 12:25pm

Step 6: Wash all the coffee mugs. The next step to washing dishes by hand is to wash all the coffee mugs.  I used the same water that I used for the glasses. Time: 4 minutes – 12:29pm

Step 7: Dry the dishes you have washed. Excellent job on the washing so far.  Give yourselves a break and dry/put away the dishes you have washed so far.  I found that I love bright and colourful dish towels, it makes the drying process much happier.  Also take the time to clean up the sink properly for the second time at this point.  Time: 11 minutes – 12:41pm

Step 8: Wash the plates and bowls. I cleaned the sink and put fresh water in for this step.  Starting time 12:42pm.  Normally I would have taken a break after step 7, but I wanted to get this over and done with today.  So here are the pictures below of this step.  Time: 8 minutes - 12:48pm

Step 9: Wash all the plastic containers and the other bits and pieces.  It is almost over now.  You can do it!  Time: 5 minutes : 12:55pm

Step 10: Soak the pots and pans in the sink.  At this step it is a great time to put hot soapy water in pots and pans to let them soak a bit.  Make yourself a cup of coffee and relax for a while.  The table is now clear!  It is very tempting to stop at this step, but don’t you need to finish the job! Time: 2 minutes – 12:57pm

Step 11: Wipe down the surfaces in the kitchen and dry dishes.  Time to wipe up any spills on the newly clean surfaces.  Look how shiny it is!  I also dried the dishes and put them away, giving myself a clean work space for the greasy pots and pans. Time: 5 minutes – 13:38pm (remember, I took a nice long break!)

Step 12: Wash the pots and pans – then shine your sink! That was the last of it!  I usually let the pots and pans drip dry. Time: 8 minutes – 13:46pm

And as promised, here is an image that you can print for your cleaning file (click the image below to open up a bigger one to print):

In my dreams: Dad, Church and the Mercedes

Sometimes I have quite vivid dreams, and I remember them rather well.  There are times when I have dreams with other people in them that I wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about to the other people, but other times I have dreams that only relate to myself.  I think it would help if I had a place to write about them, so I’m going to include them onto my blog. 

A little background may be needed first. My dad past away on the 30 June 2010.  He bought a Mercedes Benz second hand, which he paid to be fixed up, but he passed away before it was finished and never got to drive it. I have my dad’s Mercedes now.  I have a dog, Zoey, who is a Black Cocker Spaniel.  I am married to Mark Letley.  I grew up in a Baptist Church, and Mark grew up in a Methodist Church.

Last night my dream went as follows:

I was in a parking lot at a shopping centre.  In this parking lot I was redoing a drivers license, but I was doing it in my dad’s Mercedes.  I failed my the license because the edge of the cars right hand tyres was touching the white line of the parking space when I was reverse parking (or ally docking) into the space.

The instructor drove me back to where my dad was waiting and he [my dad] got into the drivers seat.  My mom was in the shopping mall looking at books or something in one of the shops.  My dad and I decided we were going to get a milkshake at the Wimpy on the beachfront while waiting for my mom.  I had a distinct feeling that we were in East London.  Zoey was sitting on the back seat of the car.

While we were driving to the beach front, my dad asked me if Mark and I had been going to church.  I said we went to a specific Baptist church twice [I actually remember which one I said we went to, but I personally have never been into that one, I have only seen the outside], but the people there were VERY traditional – as in over the top traditional, as in the pastor preached on tradition more than on the word of God. [I haven’t been to a church like this before, and definitely not with Mark]

So Mark and I had found a different church that we were attending, one that was multidenominational, a little more lively and preaching the solid word of God.

My dad was happy about that, he also asked who had “broken in” his car, and commented on the excellent care of it.  Basically he was happy that we was getting to drive it finally.

It was then that I woke up with the alarm clock this morning (about 5am)

Some strange thoughts:

The church that Mark and I “tried” in my dream I actually remember going to in a previous dream I had.  In my dream I remembered back to a previous dream.  I remember some of the faces of people in the congregation, I remember the layout of the church, I remember being bored stiff through the sermon.  I remember having to politely tell the people why we had decided we were not going there a third time, telling them which church we were going to now.  Trying to explain ourselves, the criticism when we said we were leaving… I remember all the details of a previous dream.

This is the street I remember driving down with my dad in my dream, I remember it clearly:

Tick Bite Fever

Yesterday, Mark went to the doctor.  It is official, he has Tick Bite Fever.  The doctor has said he needs to stay in bed for a week. 

I have taken the day off work today to look after him.  Hopefully he will be well enough to look after himself from tomorrow, if not I will be relying on his mother to keep an eye on him.  He should be well enough to move to her house.

So how did he get this illness?  We think it is because he rides his bicycle to work through a veld (field).  There is a definite bite mark on his foot, we didn’t think anything of it though and it happened a week or so before he got sick.

What we suspect is that the tick caught onto his shoe or sock.  He then took his shoes and socks off at work and put on work shoes/socks.  The tick then crawled into the sock, which he put on after work to cycle home.

Moral of the story: Check your socks/shoes for ticks, or pack an extra pair of socks.

In sickness…

Today, Mark and I have been married 3 months, and we are officially experiencing a little bit of the “In sickness and in health” part of our wedding vows.

Mark is sick in bed with something or other.  Headache, nausea, fever and body aches.  He will be going to a doctor tomorrow.

What have I done today?  Slept late next to him this morning, fetched him water, green tea, soup and anything else he wants to try and keep down.  And I am enjoying reading Treasure Island out loud.  I was going to read it anyway, just thought I would keep him company by reading it out loud.

I also admit that I spent a large portion of the day playing The Sims 3… like I enjoy doing over the weekend.

So that is my weekend, and the first experience with the “In sickness”  part of the marriage vows.