Something in my eye

It depends on what "kind" of dirt is in your eye, however I find that usually rinsing it with water works well.  The best way is to lean into the sink, cup your hand, run some water into it and put the water up to your eye with your eye open. Some people may not be able to do this, however I have been wearing contacts for 12 years so I am ok with things going into my eye lol.  When I'm wearing contacts and get dirt in my eye, but can't take them out, I use Visine for contacts, it works REALLY well!

I usually shut my eyes and I let tears emerge from the affected eye usually the dirt comes out with the tear.

I have found an eye wash to be the best.  You can buy this in the drugstore.  It comes with a little eye cup on top of the bottle, which is usually blue.  I keep one of these bottles of eye wash on hand in the house in case of emergency.  They also give relief for irritants like styes.

Try using eye drops....one eyedrop every 1/2 hour or so until it flushes the stuff out......much easier than one of those eye cups!!

Well rinsing works well. It also depends on the kind of dirt. But rinsing with clean water is the most effective technique to clear the dirt.