Very few people I know stack dishes outside of the sink unless the sink is already full. I suspect that's either because that's what they've been taught to do, or on the assumption that they (or someone like them) will clean the lot before they get to be an obstruction. Sometimes that works out, sometimes not. As a person in a multi-cat household, I prefer to keep my dishes (clean or dirty) off the counters because cats are naughtiness magnets and I like my dishes intact. They're less likely to get damaged in the sink, trust me. I also have a double sink in my kitchen, so as long as I can keep one side free, I can still do at least some dish washing by hand.
Washing one dish isn't directly about practicality, it's a trick to help with motivation and to spur progress when a person has fallen way behind on cleaning for whatever reason, and is totally overwhelmed by the mess and doesn't even know where to start. A pile of dishes may be too much to tackle in that situation, so tell yourself you only have to clean one, dry it, and put it away. It's an easy victory point to gain, and it's a starting place with that particular chore. Maybe the person doesn't stop there, but even if they do, they've completed a cleaning task, however minor. And that's a good thing since nothing was being done about the dishes before. If you are able to keep up with your dish washing and other household cleaning, go you! This advice is not applicable to you. But someone whose regular house maintenance has fallen way behind may need this sort of micro-movement towards a cleaner house in order to cope with dealing with any of it.
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Date: 2014-06-09 11:27 am (UTC)Washing one dish isn't directly about practicality, it's a trick to help with motivation and to spur progress when a person has fallen way behind on cleaning for whatever reason, and is totally overwhelmed by the mess and doesn't even know where to start. A pile of dishes may be too much to tackle in that situation, so tell yourself you only have to clean one, dry it, and put it away. It's an easy victory point to gain, and it's a starting place with that particular chore. Maybe the person doesn't stop there, but even if they do, they've completed a cleaning task, however minor. And that's a good thing since nothing was being done about the dishes before. If you are able to keep up with your dish washing and other household cleaning, go you! This advice is not applicable to you. But someone whose regular house maintenance has fallen way behind may need this sort of micro-movement towards a cleaner house in order to cope with dealing with any of it.