One day

not sure if it helps you, but i find it easiest to clean when there are few items in the sink.
a mug and a spoon? heck yeah, i'm cleaning that shit. three plates, six bowls, six pairs of chopsticks, two knives, two pans, and a cutting board? fuck that shit i'm gonna go watch a movie.
sure it's less efficient, but if you clean one or two things in between tasks while you cook, you'll be surprised at how much washing up you get done during your usual "waiting time" by the time you're finished making dinner.

I'm stuck at home with covid and decided to do the dishes. The sink was clear for a whole 5 minutes, then the kids came home and now the sink has more dishes but the dishwasher is full and I don't have the energy to wash more dishes...

To me it's not just "an empty sink", that's two empty sinks!
And the basis for setting up arbitrary rules for what each sink is for. Rules that nobody else cares to understand, but I will still try to enforce... Let's just say that I get to load the dishwasher by my self.
- Left is for soapy dirty water, right is for flushing.
  If you're thinking anything else, you're wrong
  
  Do you mean rinsing? On the right? If so I agree. But I would allow a left-handed person to do the opposite.
  Flushing is a word I associate with toilets.

Does anyone else just get these sudden urges to CLEAN EVERYTHING?!
- Yes but mostly when I'm overwhelmed with how much actual stuff I have to or want to do but can't get myself to simply DO so I start cleaning one small area and then it turns into a whole project
  
  YESSSS!!! "Just cleaning my desk. Oh that could also need cleaning. And this could be sorted again..." and so on
- Rarely but sometimes, and I try to juice it to the max because I collapse because I know it might not come again for a while.
- I get the urge when going to bed with the thought of "I'm doing it tomorrow" and guess what never happens tomorrow.

Let that sink in.

As a former dish washer at a deli, it bothers me that homes come standard with two sinks instead of three.
- What’s the advantage of a third?
  
  Standard practice in food service is 1, wash sink; 2, rinse sink; 3, sanitizer.

Kid comes out of room, puts dirty plate in sink.
- Make them put it in the dishwasher themself

this might not be helpful as most folks rent - but my adhd brain hates double basin sinks, replacing mine with one big basin was one of the biggest improvements in my kitchen
I will procrastinate washing a big item like a sheet pan for a month with a double basin sink
- and I will wash zero other dishes while procrastinating a single big item 🙃
  
  The cookie sheet is like a blanket that I can use to hide all of my sins. If it’s under the cookie sheet, it doesn’t exist and I don’t need to clean it.
- This picture is standard issue rental sink. When I got my own place I went with a big ass double. Thing is 11in deep, with 2 14x16 basins. And a commercial style faucet. Just grab and start spraying. Wasn't realy expensive. Cheap since I got the sink used and the faucet on ebay. Like $85 for both. What a difference. If I had to go back to that picture above I would be bumm'n
  
  Thing is 11in deep, with 2 14x16 basins
  You are the person I want to become
- I'm the complete opposite: I don't like rinsing under a running tap, so a single bowl means farting around with a container for the rinsing water.
  
  Same, I hate the single sinks if there's no dish machine

I have been keeping up with my dishes lately more than I ever have in my life. It came about in kind of a weird way for me. My dishwasher broke and I suddenly had to hand wash all my dishes. I knew it was going to be a major problem so I made a goal. I decided I was going to make sure I washed every dish every night before I went to bed so they would never stack up to be a nightmare. Eventually my apartment manager got around to replacing my dishwasher and now I have kept up with doing dishes every evening only it's a lot easier with a dishwasher.
Now I run the dishwasher almost every night, unless it's really empty then I just leave it. Every morning I unload it while my coffee is brewing.
To some people this might not seem like a big deal, and to others it might seem impossible to keep up this routine. To me it has been a big improvement to my quality of life. If I feel like cooking something I always have a kitchen that is in a state that will allow me to do that and it always feels so good.
- I've been doing the same, emptying the dishwasher while the coffee brews, and it really helps me feel not-behind at the start of the day. I'm so grateful to have the machine! The detergent container says "running the dishwasher daily saves water" and I always think, "but it uses energy!" But I have realized it's energy that isn't coming from my meager inner store, so I can use it for something else. And if I skip a night, the next morning I invariably need something that's in there, dirty.

I read somewhere that interpreting things like a clean sink or a clean room as a sign of success is actually counterproductive. You might think by thinking this way, that you're motivating yourself to clean, but you're actually just shaming yourself for not cleaning. It's easy to think "cleaning is so simple, it should always be done" when in reality it should be "cleaning is such an optional task it's okay if things build up a bit."
By shaming ourselves for not cleaning, we're really shaming ourselves for having a hard day at work, or going through a hard time, or being depressed. And let me tell you, more shame is not going to make any of those scenarios any better.

Lazy lifehack: I've basically been eating the exact same thing every day the last couple of months. So I just re-wash the same bowl and fork I use every day. No dishes to build up!

(⊙д⊙)

Simple as cleaning... my god, I wish I had your energy.
- I was thinking to myself, simple????

I got that beat mercilessly as a little girl masking version of ADHD where my sink is never not empty but even if I didn't, I understand it and I understand depression which is so often comorbid with untreated ADHD and we deserve to celebrate every success like this.
Now if I could go home after work today and sweep and mop my damn downstairs, that would be the kind of success that I can only dream of. We need ADHD collectives where I'll come do your dishes (as long as you have gloves and a fresh sponge that doesn't stink) and you can come do my stupid floor.
- I've always been of the mindset that we ought to clean each others places just because it's so much easier to help a friend out than work for myself.

How is it clean if you didn't soak it in soapy water for 3 months?

The spodge is hanging over the edge and I can't stop thinking about it
- That is an appropriate sponge position. Makes it so that the sponge will dry out more quickly. Wet sponges harbor bacteria.
- The toilet brush next to it makes me more uncomfortable.
  
  If it makes you feel any better, the handle looks a bit short to be intended for a toilet. It's probably intended for cleaning bottles.

“Ahh finally space for me to put the dirty dishes”

I like dishes-- although sometimes I'll let them go for a day or two. But it's such a straightforward task that doesn't take long to complete and when you're done you know exactly where to put everything. Then stuff is clean and I feel like I accomplished at least something.
Compare that to random stuff I've got lying around that I haven't found a place for and keep getting side tracked because it's not very linear and requires decisions and more effort.

Does "Shine your sink" ring a bell for anybody else?
- Fly lady! That term is the only thing that stuck in our home.

I clean as I cook, food goes straight into a container, and no eating until all the pots and pans are clean. I had to make this the default behaviour because otherwise my kitchen would quickly become a biohazard.

I wash dishes while waiting for the water to boil, or sandwich to cook in the panini press, or food to microwave, etc. Better than just standing there.
- My wife will never comprehend this.

It's a sign I can finally fill up a bucket of water to throw in the turtle tank. He's currently down 3 inches of water in his aquarium but I still can't be fucked to clean the last few dishes.

Man I can't relate to this one because my kitchen is always clean. In fact I can't stand it when anything's out of place lol it really bothers me when someone goes and places things elsewhere. Just leave it out so I can put it away. That's how I remember where everything is!