My daughter and I "race" the coffee maker every morning while the coffee brews. We try and get the dish washer empty before the Mr. Coffee is done. I do it, because it gets an important step of my morning done AND because it teaches her a good habit. And so far, we've never lost!

I live alone. I had place settings, silverware, glassware etc. for 8. I would wait until everything was dirty before washing them (no DW) I put all but two place settings away. I don’t entertain. Now I don’t procrastinate, I do my dishes every day because I have very little choice. It sounds silly or stupid but it now works for me. Clean dishes, sink, kitchen every day. Happiness.

My routine (I'm at home during the day): 1. Unload dishwasher every morning. Load any miscellaneous dishes. 2. Throughout the day, put dirty dishes directly into the dishwasher after rinsing. I do my best to do this during dinner too. Even half the dishes going directly into the dishwasher helps with after-dinner cleanup. 3. Start dishwasher every night, full or not. I can't tell you how much this routine has helped this pregnant momma of three!

I always started cooking my meals with a full sink of hot soapy water and slid things in as I went along. easy to swish and swipe when I had a minute. AND having the table set first, calmed down the hunger monsters with a soothing ‘On its Way’ mentality!

Thank you for being the first person who told me to do the dishes each night. I was sceptical at first but was tired of feeling overwhelmed and stressed. I started doing my dishes each night and felt immediate relief and peace. It led to declutter many unneeded items; reorganize my spice and tea/coffee cabinets; use up the food I have on hand; and deep clean like never before. May God bless you and your family.

Oh my gosh those sneezes 🤧 when I saw that sneeze montage I knew your son put that together, but you’re a good mom for leaving it in 😎

Consistency over intensity. This has been my mantra for the last couple of years. It's life-changing!

I do my dishes by hand everyday after every meal. And it's like 5 minutes max. It's part of my meal routine 🙂

I don't have a dishwasher, but I notice a big difference when I do dishes after every meal, it doesn't take long and feels good to have my kitchen under control.

"Bright lines" (rules, boundaries, pre-made decisions) reduce decision fatigue, and "just this time" exceptions. I learned this after discovering I had serious blood sugar problems and needed to dramatically change my diet. I set boundaries: "THIS 🥗🍲...is food, that over there 🍪🥧... is NOT food, it is dangerous entertainment". Bright lines➖

I got a countertop dishwasher for my apartment a year and a half ago. This is the first dishwasher I've had in my life. It's a game changer. I have a family of 5. We simplified the dishes to 1 days worth, and it fits. I run it once a day and it uses 3 gallons of water. My son unloads it every morning and we load it after every meal then run it before bed. I still hand wash pots and pans but no big deal I love this.

Dana I don’t know how to message you. I wanted to say thank you because you have just changed my life. I watched your video about being better not perfect just better. They have always been a fearful perfectionist because there was a lot of criticism if you weren’t perfect when I was growing up. But at 63 years old, I’ve had a total change in my expectations of myself. It has truly changed my way of looking at every task I attend or every idea that I have about decluttering. When I get tired I can look back at anything accomplished and say “it’s better“ and that just makes me feel like I have accomplished some thing that doesn’t need to be perfect it just needed to be better. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me a sense of achievement and freedom from self criticism when I’ve worked hard. So because of you I’m better.

"The little stream of water between the bottom of the faucet and the top of the dishes...". REALITY!!!!

Good morning. I watch you all of the time. My house is starting to look much better. Thanks again.

Here's something that might blow your mind, Dana: empty the dishwasher before you go to bed or first thing in the morning, and then let everyone load their own dishes when they're done using them throughout the day. The sinks stay empty, and there's less for you to do. Changed. My. Life.

I love your thought process! And thank you, Reid, for slowing down your credits! Thumbs up!

Such a great video! My frugal hubby did the dishes math 35 years ago and bought me a dishwasher for Valentine's Day! Trust me! It was the most romantic gift ever. It is just the two of us now and that thing (not the same dw) gets run every single night full or not! You speak the truth Dana K. White! Truth!

I have a sponge wand in my sink. I rarely use the dw. I wash everything as I go & put it in the drainer. The thought of dirty dishes overnight freaks me out because the thought of roaches on my dishes 😱 Just crazy about you Dana! You're REAL.

When I am home I find that dishes get in the way all day long. And when I am working, coming home to dishes means I am not going to cook - and so I end up eating junk. But the bigger problem was the cluttered countertops, so I tackled that first. Which led me to try and find homes for things that didn't belong, and that led to needing to make more space. So I revamped my cabinets and threw a bunch of stuff out (this took 2 passes). Once I got that done and cleaned everything, it started to look more manageable and a whole lot less stressful. That's when I decided to actually do the dishes everyday - which took no time at all. Life is so much more peaceful when the kitchen is ready to use! Overthinking is caused by trying to justify procrastination - which never actually accomplishes anything worthwhile except more stress. And now it is a lot easier to keep the kitchen tidy AND clean. Love this channel!

I try to empty my dishwasher in the time it takes to heat up my water for coffee. 2 minutes and 30 seconds!

Plus, when you get to 2 or 3 days worth of dishes, there’s more stuck-on food that takes longer to scrub!

Reid’s sense of humour is a lot of fun! You make a great team.

I grew up in a very messy house where the dishes were never done so when I went out on my own I had NO good habits (regarding cleaning in general, or dirty dishes). At some point I learned that You can't really leave the kitchen while cooking (unless you want to risk burning your house down) and so I've learned to use my cooking time to do dishes, such as while I wait for things to heat up, water to boil, etc.. Now when I'm done eating all that's left to do is a few easy dishes and I don't feel like I'm taking a big chunk of time to do the dishes. I'm able to watch what's going on, on the stove and multi-task. The watched pot boils a whole lot faster while busy doing dirty dishes!

A- love the shirt!! B- never do I “ move along to another video” always need more words!! Even though dishes aren’t my struggle... ( because I gave into the run my dishwasher every night even if not full, despite my frugal brain argument) you are ALWAYS a joy to listen to and helpful in some aspect C - team pre-made decisions for the win 👏👏👏 D- Reid you are as hilarious as your mother!

LOVE LOVE LOVE your shirt! MY shirt says "Hang On, Let Me Overthink This." Bought it for myself after my drum teacher and Krav Maga instructor said the same thing to me in the same week.

My great grandmother's wisdom was that noone should walk out their front door with dishes in the sink. You could get into a car accident or die and someone would see those dirty dishes. Ohhh myyy...I broke that tradition!

Thank you! This explains why, after breaking my ankle last summer and not being able to stay on top of the dishes, everything spiraled out of control and down into a horrible abyss filled with fruit flies and other assorted nasties that took professional assistance to get out of. I feel a lot less bad about being overwhelmed by them.

The loud noise warning had me cracking up. I needed that, in addition to the reminder to do my dishes daily.

I have timed myself. I can unload and load the DW in less than 10 minutes. SN: We want to meet Reid!!!! Have him in a video!

I'm totally starting to watch for Reid's notes at the end. LOL

Listened to 1.5 of you audiobooks so far! Life changing and motivating. Thank you for giving permission to not be perfect. Just making things better than I left it. I have a lot of anxiety tied to my house needing to stay a certain way. There isn’t enough time in the day or week or year to get certain things done. Now that I have a kid things are definitely changing every day. My main goals: Take care and love on my baby girl....and do the dishes, lol

THIS was the BEST thing you taught me...the first and the best!! I hated doing dishes and my kitchen screamed that fact ....and yes some of us can sleep very well with dishes stacked to the ceiling....but since meeting Dana and having "Dana days" my kitchen is clean most every day or night and its been a God send..it frees up the over thinking about it..... and frees up the time so I can go on to the next thing. And I too now run my dishwasher when it isn't full. Just my opinion but I feel its faster to do them by hand so then theres that.

I also run the dishwasher every night. Sometimes it doesn’t get started til the kids go to bed but we only keep enough kid dishes for a day so I have to run it everyday. I try to unload while the kids eat breakfast so I can load it throughout the day. I also try to clean while I cook so I don’t have a huge pile after dinner. When I do let it all pile up and end up unloading/loading/hand washing pots and pans after dinner, it’s overwhelming and takes a good 30 mins. Breaking it up helps so much. Dishes math is real!

Thank you for being you!

Doing the dishes every day is changing my home in the best way 🙂 Thankyou!!! ❤️

I have just finished listening to both books on Audible and you have been making me laugh and cry (all good and needed!) for about 5-6 months. I’ll miss having you ride along with me during errands, so I may go back and listen to the again 😜😂 I deeply feel every topic and concept! My husband has overheard many chapters and swears we are two sisters from different misters 🤣 Thank you for helping flick the switches in my brain 🧠! I have completed the the Take Back Your House course and also Cas’s Organizational Expert Course. I’m now helping others and it’s thanks to all you beautiful ladies!

My favorite part about your videos is your son’s editing. He manages to squeeze in some jokes in every video and it cracks me up!

Lol love the point where you said “yes some of us can go to sleep without our dishes done” progress not perfection 100% is real life

I am on day 5 of you 28 days to hope for your home! I am not failing! Your videos and books are what I needed.

I love your approach... “prove me wrong!” I’m so thankful I was introduced to you by Dawn from The Minimal Mom. Your mindsets and systems have been really helpful for me to get control of our home. Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for sharing all of your tried and true methods.

I know this is over a year old, but this video helps every time I get sluggish over doing my dishes! Thank you so much!

I save some dishwashing by not washing everything I use. A spoon used to stir coffee or tea, a measuring cup or spoon, small prep bowls, cutting boards, baking sheets that have been used for a batch of biscuits, bowls or plate used for warming up bread in the microwave, etc. these things can be wiped off or rinsed under the faucet and put away. Donna, Mike’s wife.

And its usually less than 10 minutes, more like 5 minutes, if done by hand as you go throughout the day. Recovered lazy person here,,it is so worth it. And it gives you so much Free mental time! Win/win!

Your videos are equal parts enjoyable for wisdom and laughs. So enjoy your personality!!

Those sneezes had me rolling!! 😂 love it.

For the last 2 weeks I have managed to do dishes every day per your suggestion from a previous video. I realized I am not nearly as anxious at the start of my day when I see a clean sink first thing in the morning. Thank you, thank you, thank you! And a big thank you to Reid for slowing down the roll at the end ❤❤

The sneeze portion was excellent. Bravo!

Got home from work, 2nd shift, lots o' dishes...listened to this video while doing them. 🎉I'm looking forward to a dish free counter in the morning!!! Thank you again, Dana!! God bless!!

Finally! Math I can understand. My husband couldn't believe this. I've been doing this for 3 weeks. It works!

For years I used to leave the dishes pile up for days and it would literally take me all day to wash and because there was no room I would have to dry in between to make room ,.. dont know what switched but I started washing everyday and then I started washing after each meal and it literally takes me 5 min ... It become so I quick I hadnt used the dishwasher for months and about 5-6 weeks ago I got hubby to pull it out and put in a door and some shelves in the opening for extra cupboard space for my small kitchen, its been awesome having the extra room for things piled up because I didnt have room to store in the cabinets ..

Once I figured out to run my dishwasher before bed -whether it is full or not- and empty while making my coffee in the morning was a life changer! All day long there is room to stuff it. For the first time ever my counter and sink is always clean! LIFE CHANGER!

I wash my dishes by hand and it definitely applies! I used to let it sit and pile for days! and now I at least rinse what I’m using or make sure I wash things as I go and let them air dry to put away in the morning. Washing a freshly used dish takes seconds really! Took a while to make it a habit but it’s the best to have the task take a fraction of the time. Ps. I stay to end for the credits 😂

I can’t relate (thankfully) to not cleaning the dishes but love the concept of dishes math, which works on more than dishes. Glad you slowed the ending credits. So entertaining!

I like your t-shirt; unfortunatly I am not a chronic overthinker; mine is CHRONIC PAIN. After ANY task, I am in pain, and sometimes agony. It is STILL worth it doing a little bit right now. Also your mantra, "I'm going to make this better right now." I may not be able to get it all done, but I may be able to get some done.

I hand wash daily for 2 people it takes me about 20 minutes if the sink is full with pots on the stove. Sometimes I’ll do a quick wash before cooking a meal so I have room to make more dirty dishes. But I live full time in an RV so space is at a premium. I love the mentality of “sometime today.” Dishes will always be there, it’s a cycle and never completely done. Realizing this has taken the stress off (chronic over thinker) and allows me to say “no I’m gonna spend time with my husband”

Again, really enjoy your videos. When younger, my problem was ironing, and I struggled as some do now with dishes. Now, at 74, I own iron and ironing board, but thankful for fabric of today...no more bag of ironing building, then spending half a day doing that hated job! Procrastination, the enemy of the person facing the necessary short task.

Bless you! The dishes are finally under control after being married 40 years. New principle don’t wait for any job until it’s bigger. Do it while it’s small.

Got it. "Dishes" math is like "having kids" math: 1 + 1 = >2 Also, I want to buy your shirt for my husband and myself, but I'm having trouble deciding on a color...

Love love love Dana! The life changing magic of a restaurant sized dish pan 😜🍴🍽️🍴🍳💖🔥🌹

I’ve just got rid of my dishwasher after years of having one one, I find it quicker to wash up . I don’t miss it one bit, and the kitchen seems to keep tidier. The time I loaded it up then emptied it, it’s quicker by hand . And I got fed up bending

Love your videos. Our routine is to run the dishwasher after dinner. Anything that did not fit is hand washed before I leave the kitchen. Empty dishwasher first thing in the morning. Load dishes throughout the day. Dirty dishes are left in the sink if the dishwasher is running or has not been emptied. We run it once and only once a day. The dishwasher takes over two hours to wash and dry the dishes. We do not have dishes all over the house. My husband may leave a bowl in the living room with dead cans of Coke from late at night. I pick them up and take to the kitchen before I unload the dishwasher each morning.

Thank you for doing the “thinking” for me. You always have great insight. I’ve gone through the same reasoning a billion times and the dishes have been the bane of my existence for the last 9 years of being married. I could never figure it out. We use paper plates and plastic utensils. Really trying to get myself in order here. I’m going to keep you in the back of my mind to hold me accountable!!! Also can relate to the sneezes 🤣🤧🤧🤧

On my way to bed I always run the dishwasher, you are right -- game changer!

You. Are. My. Spirit. Speaking. That whole dishes conversation is me today. Now!!. If you can be you today, coming from me today, there is definitely hope for me!

For smaller households, there are dish drawers that are about half the size of a regular dishwasher (they can be bought with one or two drawers stacked). They work very well and save people having to bend over very far if they have a bad back. We switched to these a few years back and love them. Love the video and dishes math works so well!!!!

Ha, 15 minutes to wash a days worth of dishes. I wished. It takes me 15 minutes in the morning to clean up breakfast.

Dana, I took your dishes math advice a while ago, and it’s a game-changer. I first started timing how long one MEAL of dishes took, and was shocked to discover it took five to ten mins (depending on whether I cleaned as I went, highly recommended). Two meals took more than twice as long, and a day’s worth was, for me, back breaking (I’m short, and washing dishes for 20 mins or more did a number on my back). So, thank you.

Oh honey!!!!! I tried this and such an amazing tip. I usually wait till the weekend and play catch up. This week took the time every day to wash the few things we had and LITERALLY I got to today and crossing dishes off my cleaning list took literally less than five minutes!!!!! I know I still have a million other things to tackle but being able to cross off one thing without dreading it really reduced my stress!!! It was amazing to think that I could actually work on something else instead of spending all day just keeping the basic areas clean. Thank you!!!!

i watched this a week ago and decided to give it a try. i don't think i've ever done just one day's dishes in my life. I have bad habits and ADHD, plus 3 little ones.. I took a saturday morning and did the marathon task of alllll the dishes. from the double sink, the counters, the table--everything. whew! But I've done that mammoth task before. Never have I kept up the daily maintenance. 😲It's astonishing! I haven't had to wash dishes before I use them! What is this magic?!😅 there's less mental energy stressing about the madness mountain of dishes, it's great!

So true. I swear it was like playing Janga with the dishes when I finally threw in the towel and learned that this is not normal. Your way, do the dishes daily works!!!!

You are so right about timing and doing the dishes each day.

Thanks a million...the best video in a long time ..... Now before I start cleaning the house I make sure the sink is empty and clean.... Real motivation to do the rest of the cleaning👍👍👍

When to do the dishes!?! I use to want a clean kitchen before I went to bed HOWEVER, my husband was a late night eater. I would forced myself (so tired!) to clean up at night BUT wake up to a dirty kitchen. After numerous rantings & ravings to no avail, I switched to cleaning up first thing in the morning instead. WIN-WIN! I didn't have to force myself to clean the kitchen at night & wasn't frustrated about waking up to a dirty sink!! LOVE your channel!!

To avoid filthy kitchen paralysis, I would count how many hand-wash items were in the dirty kitchen and do 1/3 of them, hopefully 3 times a day. Never got more than 2/3 done. Now kitchen is clean and I wander in, 3x a day and do all the hand-wash items there (like 4, maybe). It is so easy! It is so peaceful!

I’m so grateful to have found Dana.

I was in the middle of cleaning the laundry room but I stopped to go do the dishes!🤣🤣

Love this! Such vulnerability, and oh, so relatable!! Will def be putting the "just put your mind that you have to get them done today and you'll find what works for your family." into work in these coming weeks. Thank you!

Pre-made decisions. Genius! Saves time and mental energy.

Dana also explains how the dry dishes need to sit taking up space to dry and so that adds to the washing time. It's so true. Y'all, Read The Book. Buy The Book. Borrow The Book. Download the Book. Listen to The Book.

Just wanted to comment for all the large families out there. We are a family of seven, and cook every meal from scratch (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Currently our dishwasher is out. I have been timing myself doing dishes and I found that Dana’s dishes math is correct but instead of saying “every day” say “every meal”. We got this! 💖

I stopped the video to actually o the dishes. Haha. Now that they are done, I can continue watching.

“People that get paid to chronically overthink.” 😂🤣😂🤣😂 it’s me, I’m one of those people.

This makes so much sense!! It's counterintuitive to think doing it more often makes it easier. But it really does!!

LoL! Your dishes math is so very true. I loathe doing dishes but I do them twice a day. To stay on top of them.

I absolutely love you. You are hilarious. Thank you for making cleaning and decluttering fun. God bless you.

I simply adore your sense of humour! Reid also cracks me up:) Your no nonsense approach really gets me motivated. Thank you Dana...I need more words;)

I think something that helped me with dish control is having the right dishes. I use glass storage containers with air-tight lids as serving dishes too. If I am left with left-overs (usually), I just add the lid to the potatoes, casserole, vegetables, meatloaf, or whatever and put it in the refrigerator. I only have to wash the serving dish when it gets empty. I usually use LocknLock, but use other brands too.

I love your content and how you explain things...and Reid’s editor comments at the end 🤣 thank you for slowing them down!

Yes! Totally! Having a clean sink each night makes for a beautiful morning for me and my coffee ☕ 😃

Doing dishes every day has been a game changer for me. Thank you so much for these videos!

I love you, Dana! You bring a giggle to my day! As an overthinker and a math major, I can tell you with complete confidence, this is totally how dishes math works. Textbook perfect explanation!!! 👏 I used to have the same exponential multiplier thing going on in my kitchen. It's for real! My (over) thinking was that I didn't want to waste water and dish soap when I only had a couple of things to wash. Then...BOOM! Next thing we knew, every dish was dirty and we were eating out of paper plates...again. 😕 Funny how the solution is so simple, yet some of us can't see it. Now I wash my dishes once or twice a day. I wash by hand. There are just two of us and we cook simply, so it only takes me a few minutes. And I only have two place settings for each of us, which has helped tremendously. Not to mention (but I will), I put the paper plates in a high cabinet and made them difficult to access. It's easier for me to wash every dish we own than to grab a paper plate now. BUT, no surprise, my over thinking wasn't done...I had successfully jumped the soap and water hurdle (I run some water in a small bowl when I only need a little), but then found myself procrastinating until the very end of the day, even though I wanted to do my dishes earlier. Why? Because the dish drainer was too big for so few dishes. I didn't want to pull it out, dry it off, and put it back away for just a couple of dishes. Solution: I had a small, flat drainer that I was using to sit my water cup on. I'd found it when I decluttered my cabinets and instead of getting rid of it, I gave it a purpose. I don't know why I bought it in the first place, to be honest, because I always had big loads of dishes. Now I actually use that little drainer more often than the large one. And I don't mind pulling it out, drying it off, and putting it away...go figure. Most importantly, I don't dread doing my dishes now. Even if I forget until the last minute, I know it will only take a few minutes, so I go ahead and do it instead of putting it off until tomorrow. And I always make sure the dishes are put away before I go to bed. That's for me. Seeing my clear counters in the morning makes me happy. Such a simple solution to the dishes math problem. You get an A+, Dana. Thank you!

The sneeze!! Omg laughed out loud. So good.

Oh my word!!! I think we are related!! We HAVE to be!! I tell everyone that I am you, you are me!! I belong to a fb declutter group called Get Your Life Decluttered. I recommend they watch you constantly!!! You and your videos have been so very helpful to me! I have both of your books on audible and kindle!! To say thank you is just not enough!!!

Love this video! I started getting my dishes to 100% done in mid-January, and it's been a game changer for my housekeeping anxiety/overwhelm. Even the hand-wash sippy cups only take 1 minute to just wash already instead of them piling up and staring back at me, lol!

Love this channel so so much. Thank you, I relate so much to this. 🥰

Dishes math is a real thing. Your explanation of this concept changed my life. Thank you ❤

I use gel dishwasher detergent so that I can customize the amount based on the load size. Most detergent brands recommend WAY too much so I tinker with it until I find what works. Same with laundry; I use powder so I can add what is needed vs. a set amount like a pod would. We spend less than $100 a year on laundry soap and we do 10-12 loads a week.

This concept is EVERYTHING!!!!

Totally agree- dishes done everyday is much better than on day two and ya can’t fit it all in the sink or dishwasher. Loved it, great video! Love Reid’s commentary at end. Be blessed! ❤️

I love the use of the word "overwexplained" 😅🤣🙏🙏🏽 thanks for a wonderful vlog! You are so refreshing!