10 things to do while your dishwasher's on
A dishwasher could give you up to four extra hours a week. Check out our ideas for how to put them to best use.
We’ve worked out that you can save, on average, four hours a week by letting the dishwasher drawers do all the hard work for you. That’s over 200 hours – well over a week – a year. Just think of all things you could be doing instead of washing up.
- Learn a language: With an online or audio program you could use your washing-up time to speak any language you choose in a year.
- Homework: Junior school children should do 30 minutes supervised homework a day and senior school children should do an hour. Helping the kids work through their daily dose of homework could give them the confidence boost they need come exam time.
- Cook: Try something new, maybe something you’ve always thought you’d cook if you had the time. Now you’ve got the time. And you don’t even have to wash up afterwards.
- Stay in touch: A phone call, an email, an online chat or even a letter to a friend or relative has to be a better way to spend an hour than dicing with dirty dishes. Go on, make someone’s day.
- Dancing: From the cha-cha to capoeira. Take a class a week, add a few practice sessions in the hallway or kitchen, and you could be dancing up a storm.
- A trip to the park: An hour of fresh air with the family is a great way to de-stress and counter screen-heavy lifestyles.
- Through the classics in no time – and it won’t even cost you anything: you can get most of them free to read on your tablet or e-reader.
- Get physical: Half an hour of exercise a day, be it a run, a jog, an exercise DVD or a brisk walk, is enough to have a beneficial effect on your heart, immune system and general wellbeing. Go for it!
- Sort out your photos: You’ve always meant to. Now you can do it little by little. Put those old prints in albums. Delve into your digital archive and print and frame the best – and send copies to the grandparents.
- Play: If you’ve got little ones, spend some extra time with them. Get caught up in make-believe or construction. Older kids love it if you watch their favourite programme with them or play a computer game. No kids? Indulge in some catch-up TV or treat yourself with a box-set episode.