Summary – Lesson learnt from washing dishes

It has always been established between me and the mrs that cooking will be her duty and washing dishes is mine. Obviously we will help each other out but the responsibility is clearly as such.

So here I was doing my dishes when I suddenly noticed something about the way I wash the dishes. 🙂 Apparently there is a pattern and I just realized it. Instead of washing what ever come first, I always choose the biggest items in the sink (like plates etc) first before the smaller one. Yes, even if that piece is located deep down the mountain of dishes.

I know what you’re thinking, banji.. you have way much time eheh bear with me for a while. I then try to figure out why do I wash dishes in such a way, bigger plate first and then the smaller plate. Here’s why…

The reason for my methods is because I want to have an immediate visual satisfaction. When I see the big plate washed, (meaning no longer in the sink) I feel like this work I’m doing is actually making progress and I can see it clearly. Imagine if I washed all those spoon and fork first, the mountain of plate will still be there and it is quite demotivating.

Heheh when you wash dishes, your mind tends to wander, and this is when ideas will come in pouring. So what is it I am trying to highlight here?

That maybe in everything we do, we can start with the most important things first (or big things). This way when we finish that one, we will be more motivated to finish off those smaller ones, because from visual point of view, we had already finished half of the pile of work with one completed job.

Classic example is like when you clean your room. All the garbage is still left on the floor, but you spend your time cleaning all the dust at the window (which by the way, nobody will notice). This will be very demotivating because after you had finished with the dust, you will see those garbage and it seems that all your work is for nothing.

Obviously this “Finish the bigger task first” rule has better application for other things in life, right? 🙂

Where else we can apply this rule? Or do you even agree with it? If not, care to share any other suggestion?

————–Personal Note————-
Now that the mrs is pregnant, I will have to help more with the housework. I truly respect those working wives. You work just as tough and when you get back from work, you cook, clean and entertain your family with so much energy. I salute you….One of the biggest mystery of life… Working wives 🙂 (Note: By wives, I meant the whole group of wives in general, not one husband 4 wives 🙂 )

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This post has 14 comments.


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  1. aRa
    07 Oct 07 11:00 pm

    Aiyooo Banji..u ni so creative la..Washing dishes pun leh wat cerita..Tabik spring la..Agagaga.. Hurmmm…i hate washing dishes actually..I lebih prefer cooking even if it took me hours then washing eventought only took me 30minutes..

    Yg best..masa raya..bkn job i wash dishes..Yahooo…my sist la kena..berlambak2..Lalalalala..Hurmm..i do agree with u..I actually klo nak wash dish..siap susun lagi tau..What i want 2 wash 1’st..and usually plate jd winner la..and biasanya..periuk belanga uncit(last)..

    My mum told me..Cara org wash dish pun ade maksud tau..klo org cuci sembarngan je kekonon life dia pun mcm sembarangan je..tak plan btl2..Dia tak de mcm 1 matlamat(ntah la btl ke tak) manakala org yg mcm i(agagaga..angkat bakul sdiri) they know how 2 plan life..Hurmmm..

    Banji..msti tlg mrs tau..bkn kena tapi msti..Agagagaga…best nye la kerjasama bahagi keje rmh kan..Ssh nak cari nowdays..My mum manage 2 do that alone and tak pernah ade maid..Dad tak pernah tlg..and my mum is a working woman..shift lak 2..She my idol..

  2. filantera
    08 Oct 07 12:51 am

    well cant wait for you to come back to kg la banji….and we can have that big bombastic major BBQ fusion and still lepas tu bleh lepak lepak tgk bintang while banji basuh pinggan ahahhaha

    lawak jerr….hehhe

    my way of doing dishes (if i am cooking laa, which quite rare these days), is clean all the way…. like, potong bawang, siap jer potong suma, terus basuh board and pisau…lepas taruk sos/rempah dalam periuk, terus basuh mangkuk tu, then angkat makanan from the periuk, terus basuh periuk tu…(which sometimes procastinated till after makan sbb tak tahan dah :P)

    soooo like ara said, what kind a person i am then ? hehhehe

    p.s: Nope, i will not cook this hari raya, thank you very much!! 🙂

  3. banji
    08 Oct 07 2:45 am

    ara – 🙂 tak beberapa suka jugak basuh pinggan ni, tapi like they said, it’s a dirty job still somebody has to do it

    tapi I really take pride if my kitchen is clean. happy le sket nak curi2 makan huhu malam2

    so ara style mcm tu, susun2 dulu… kalau betul cara org basuh pinggan tell something about the person, u are then a “plan ahead” kind of person lah 🙂 keep it up

    insyaAllah saya akan tolong dia setakat yg boleh, siapa lagi nak tolong kan? 🙂

    saluting your mother

  4. Banji
    08 Oct 07 2:48 am

    filantera – heheh kat rumah sendiri makan sendiri basuh la 🙂

    kalau banji pun sibuk2 (atau buat2 sibuk kt dapur masa the mrs masak, then mmg gitu jugak le basuh pinggan, abih pakai je basuh. hm apa ye maksudnya 🙂 ara?

    adik cook hari raya? sejak bila any of us cook pun huhu, kita selalu jadi assistant chef je

  5. UncleJ
    08 Oct 07 7:02 am

    banji…just by doing the dishes u can create this entry…how wonderful…rajin jugak banji ni tolong mrs…teruskan je..kan mrs tgh sarat tu?..

  6. Banji
    08 Oct 07 9:55 am

    UncleJ – masa buat2 keje mcm tu la idea banyak datang, sbb boring heheh.

    kena rajin lah uncle, dah mmg tanggungjawab. 🙂 nak ikut malas, tak makan lah..

    cuma sayang tu je, saya tak pandai masak huhu.

  7. azra.boneyta
    08 Oct 07 10:08 am

    banji, im the other way round, not that i like doing the dishes nor i have much of it to do, but i always start with the small stuff first, the fork and spoon, the knife the bowls,the glasses then the bigger stuff…..so i gues you can interpret it that i do action on my smaller dreams first rather than going for the bigger ones….hehehehehehehehehehe

  8. Pocket
    08 Oct 07 12:00 pm

    after reading your post. i immediately went to clean up my dishes inside the sink. me too start with the big one n then goes to the smaller mangkuk… but i have my own theory.
    its because u wanna put the big dishes first on the drying plane so that the little mangkuk can be on top. n so does the little pinggan.
    spoon n fork doesnt count cause their drying plane is different.
    is it called ‘drying plane’
    alaaa tpt yg kita biarkan pinggan mangkuk kita kering tu laaa…

    Eheh

  9. Banji
    08 Oct 07 2:02 pm

    azra – finally another type 🙂 actually there’s no correct way, as long as everything is done. But it is interesting to see and interpret the hidden symbolic meaning behind them.

    This actually inspire me for tomorrow’s post

    posket – that I believe is a more practical reasoning behind it 🙂 a pyramid is always bigger below, it will be quite a mess to start with the smaller ones.

    But I guess the system is for us to manipulate.

  10. intankamaruddin
    08 Oct 07 3:33 pm

    yeah i wash the biggest first sebab nanti yang kecik2 leh letak dalam yang besar tu.. 😀

  11. Banji
    08 Oct 07 4:30 pm

    intan – yerp.. yg kecik letak dlm yg besar.. real estate management 🙂 jimat space sket kan?

  12. Noushy Syah
    09 Oct 07 12:06 pm

    hehhehe..in country of 4 seasons, we don’t do the dishes…it’s the job of ‘dishwasher’..hikss..

    p/s don’t get me wrong, but that’s the reality,dishwasher is a must in every house just like any other items.

    p/p/s You’re suami Mithali Banji..you Mrs must be so lucky to have you!

  13. Noushy Syah
    09 Oct 07 12:20 pm

    p/s this is just like the big rocks in the jar of our life!

    …unless you first place the big rocks into the jar, you are never going to get them in. The big rocks are the important things in your life — your family, your friends, your personal growth…the same like when you washing dishes!!

    *that just show of what type of person you are!! keep it up..

  14. Banji
    09 Oct 07 4:30 pm

    noushy – seriously, I can’t even imagine how a dishwasher works. seen it all the time in tv, but just never bother to figure it out hehe…. I don’t think we have a lot of dishwasher for sale here in Malaysia.

    suami mithali? *blush.. who else will us? if not ourselves kan?

    I like that big rocks in the jar expression. If we fill it up with all the smaller rock, there will be no space for the big rock. 🙂 great one noushy

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