A good cook is a clean cook

This is the mantra that I grew up learning how to cook with. Growing up, I always just thought my mom said this because she wanted us to do the dishes. Now that I'm cooking in my own kitchen I understand: it is so the dishes get done, but if you are cleaning while you are cooking there aren't as many dishes to do when you finish. If there is a spot in a recipe where you have a second (while things are browning or a sauce is reducing, for instance), I highly recommend cleaning whatever dishes or utensils you have dirtied up to that point so you aren't overwhelmed at the end.