Help with the Dishes?

My sister tells me all the time that her kitchen in the heart of her home.  If it is clean, she has peace and balance. If it is messy, she can't focus or get anything else done - it drives her CRAZY!

I think I've become a bit desensitized over the years.  Sometimes you get to a point where you are just TIRED of cleaning.  It's SO MUCH work and lasts such a short time when you have small children.  But then I dig up pictures of the ONE HOME I have loved more than any other - and the cleanliness and order and peace I feel when I just LOOK AT and remember through pictures reminds me that I really FEEL better and function better when my home is, in fact, clean and organized.  The rest is just me being lazy!  LOL! (And, seriously, it really DOES last only a FEW minutes most days, right?)

How do you do it without going crazy? What can you do to keep it where it needs to be for there to be peace and balance in your home?  Today I am going to pass along ONE idea I received from my good friend Jade: How to keep up with the dishes!

Jade shared a few years ago that every night after dinner, she would clean the kitchen, load the dishwasher, and then go on with their family's nightly routine.  Then she would turn the dishwasher on as they went to bed and start the next day with clean dishes. 

But every morning, she felt like she was starting the day behind already!  And she couldn't figure out why, with all the preparation she had put into the night before.

Want to know how she fixed it?  She started the dishwasher after she loaded it, went about her nightly routine, and then EMPTIED the dishwasher BEFORE she went to bed!

BAM!  Just like that, it was ready to load with the breakfast dishes and she stayed ON TOP of the workload day after day after day.

Now isn't that too easy for words?  I LOVE it!  I haven't done it for a while, but I am going to start again! 

What do YOU do to keep on top of the messes and keep the balance and peace of a clean/organized home?