Dishwasher vs Hand washing

I'm reminded of this zen-like story ...

    In the United States, I have a close friend named
    Jim Forest. When I first met him eight years ago,
    he was working with the Catholic Peace Fellowship.
    Last winter, Jim came to visit. I usually wash the
    dishes after we've finished the evening meal, before
    sitting down and drinking tea with everyone else.
    One night, Jim asked if he might do the dishes.
    I said, "Go ahead, but if you wash the dishes you
    must know the way to wash them." Jim replied,
    "Come on, you think I don't know how to wash the
    dishes?" I answered, "There are two ways to wash
    the dishes. The first is to wash the dishes in
    order to have clean dishes and the second is to
    wash the dishes to wash the dishes." Jim was
    delighted and said, "I choose the second way - to
    wash the dishes to wash the dishes." From then on,
    Jim knew how to wash the dishes. I transferred the
    "responsibility" to him for an entire week.

    If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup
    of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the
    dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance,
    then we are not "washing the dishes to wash the
    dishes." What's more, we are not alive during the
    time we are washing the dishes. In fact, we are
    completely incapable of realizing the miracle of
    life while standing at the sink. If we can't wash
    the dishes, the chances are we won't be able to
    drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of
    tea, we will only be thinking of other things,
    barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are
    sucked away into the future and we are incapable of
    actually living one minute of life.

    -- Thich Nhat Hanh

When I'm doing something I try to be in the moment, doing it because it's the right thing to be doing then, and not hankering after the next thing to do. I'm finding that much of what I do is done faster, cleaner, more elegantly, and with greater satisfaction.