Use, rinse, dry

As square footage goes, the kitchen is probably one of the smallest rooms in your home. As square inchage goes, the sink is probably one of the smallest areas in your kitchen.

And yet, that itty bitty sink can be overwhelming to caregivers and normal earthlings alike as it fills with dirty dish after dish, spoon after spoon and pot after pot.

Here's something to ponder: some of the dirty dishes in your sink are automatically put there. It's a habit. You drink water from a mug and into the sink it goes, either to be washed by hand later or rinsed for later dishwasher-washing.

Fact is, some of these items probably can be satisfactorily cleaned with a good rinse of hot water.  

For example, some days my morning drink of choice is tea. Before my epiphany, there would be loads of dirty cups in the sink by midweek because I am the Queen of Procrastination when it comes to dirty dishes.

Nowadays, I drink tea, rinse and place on the drying rack. By the time afternoon tea rolls around, it's dry and rarin' to go, and by midweek I am pleased with my cupless sink.

So simple.