Doing the Dishes Can Help You Become a Better Achiever
Tags: Self-awareness, Mindfulness, Self Improvement, Motivation

How Will Washing Dishes Make Me a Better Achiever?

1.A sense of achievement

When the dishes move entirely from the sink to the rack I have a sense of having sorted something; a diluted feeling of having achieved something good. It is like a small trigger that goes to my brain saying ‘I can do it’.

Takeaway:

Our mind requires motivation in small doses all the time. According to Ralph Ryback in Psychology today,

“The satisfaction of ticking off a small task is linked with a flood of dopamine. Each time your brain gets a whiff of this rewarding neurotransmitter, it will want you to repeat the associated behavior”

And every time the brain tastes this, it would want more of it. So it translates into actions leading to completing a task and relishing this feel-good emotion of achieving that.

2. Control over things

Everyone is repulsed by the scene of a sinkful of dirty dishes many times. Sometimes, the brain finds the easiest route to resolve that — not to do it. And one thing leads to another and one loses control over other associated chores as well, like cooking.

Doing the dishes not only gives me the message-I am in control of things, but it also prevents me from feeling daunted by other factors. Rather than letting them change my course, I tend to think about ways to tackle them.

Takeaway:

In our jam-packed schedules losing control is quite easy, leading to feelings of anxiety and overwhelmedness.

Alicia H. Clark, Psy.D., a licensed clinical psychologist and author of Hack Your Anxiety: How to Make Anxiety Work for You, in Life, Love, and All That You Do talks about how she advises her patients to do cleaning exercises. She goes on to explain that doing these things give us a feeling of control over things, which when practiced consciously, reflects on other aspects of our lives.

3. Deal with procrastination

In order to avoid a pile of dishes, the best way I have figured out is to sneak in some time and just do a bit of it. This avoids falling into the procrastination trap once it appears too much to handle.

Takeaway:

Rather than viewing every task in its entirety, it can be broken down into smaller parts, doable one at a time. I use it in every phase of my life; be it cooking, managing the house chores, or at the office. I have a ‘sinkful of jobs’ and pick a bit and do it whenever I can.

4. Just start; end eventually follows

The toughest part of a job is starting it. Everyone agrees to this. But, I have observed that if I just clean one dish, I end up cleaning the whole lot. It seems like an orchestrated act my mind and body follow.

Takeaway:

Who doesn’t relate to the pain of starting. Like Kendra Evin says in Psychology Today, it happens because of a mental leap that can sometimes be challenging: forcing ourselves to disconnect from what we are doing right now (which might be enjoyable) and do something that, at least initially, may not be enjoyable. Cutting the long story short —

You have to do that first dish.

I have conditioned my brain into linking every job to this simple act of washing dishes which may look so daunting but is sorted once you start with the first dish.

5. Increased mindfulness

Washing dishes engages a lot of senses- the temperature of the water, the smell of the soap, touching and seeing the dishes.

Takeaway:

Just as Thich Nhat Hanh has claimed, it is a conscious way to train the mind to be in the present. Going by the Buddhist zen beliefs, like muscle memory, the mind can be trained to behave in a certain way.

Today there is no debate over the effect of mindfulness on the outcome of a desired effect. Social relationships to corporate engagements, everyone is aware of the significance of ‘being there’. It not only increases the focus on the task but also brings about better problem-solving environments.