I'm a Professional Organizer and This Simple Dish Hack Transformed My Kitchen Routine…and My Sanity

Doing dishes was causing me so much stress. It got to the point where I started dreading things I actually love—like baking—because the thought of first having to clean and make space felt exhausting. Every time I walked through it, it was a reminder of how much work needed to be done just to get it into a state that didn’t cause me mental strain.

Something about opening the dishwasher and seeing forks, knives, and spoons jammed together—some still dirty, some inexplicably still wet—would immediately put me in a bad mood. It always seemed to take forever to put everything away and somehow, even with a load of dishes actively being washed, an entirely new pile of dirty dishes still managed to accumulate by the sink and throughout the house.

I felt like I was drowning in dishes and there was no finish line.

The Moment I Realized It Wasn’t Me

The breaking point came on a random Tuesday when I opened the dishwasher and genuinely just wanted to cry. The thought of spending another 10+ minutes putting everything back felt completely unbearable.

And that’s when it hit me:

What if the problem wasn’t me?
What if it was the dishes?

The Great Dish Purge

Here’s the “hack” that changed everything: I reduced our everyday dishware to only what we actually use on a daily basis.

Groundbreaking, I know. But hear me out—this isn’t about becoming a minimalist who eats off the same plate for a week (though no judgment). It’s about making your prime kitchen cabinet real estate work for you, not against you.

Over the course of a few hours, I edited down our dishes and cutlery using a few simple, targeted questions—and redesigned my kitchen zones to minimize the number of physical steps required to put everything away. I optimized the layout so that no matter who was in the kitchen, they could easily understand where everything went and how to find what they needed.

I kept enough dishes for daily use, plus a modest buffer for the occasional extra person at dinner. Anything beyond that went into our china cabinet for entertaining—or was let go of entirely.

This is something I see all the time in professional organizing work: kitchens that are technically functional, but emotionally exhausting because they’re designed for edge cases instead of real life.

A Dishwasher Routine That Actually Feels Manageable

Now I’m able to collect dishes and load the dishwasher every other night or so, run it before bed, and unload it in the morning while my coffee brews. The unloading part—which used to feel like an Olympic event—now takes maybe three minutes. Tops.

Everything goes back quickly because I’m not playing cabinet Jenga or walking laps around the kitchen trying to store seventeen different mug styles.

Why Dishes No Longer Pile Up Everywhere

The real magic? Fewer dishes means they can’t accumulate into Dish Mountain™ around the sink, drying rack, or random surfaces throughout the house. The dishwasher loads more easily. The dishes actually get clean the first time. And both loading and unloading take a fraction of the time.

When you have only what you need, things simply don’t pile up the same way.

When to Get Help Decluttering Your Kitchen

If looking at your kitchen feels overwhelming or you don’t know where to begin, that’s exactly what I’m here for. Whether virtually or in person, I help clients declutter and organize their homes in ways that reduce mental load and make everyday tasks feel lighter—not harder.

Because your space should support your life, not work against it.

Happy organizing!