Comments on: Mastering recurring responsibilities

By: Manja

Manja — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 06:10:26 +0000

I made a list of all my recurring household tasks using (freeware) To-do-list: http://www.abstractspoon.com/tdl_resources.html

Works fine for me.

By: CreditShout

CreditShout — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:42:46 +0000

This is a great idea. My mom had a chart like this when I was little, with rewards and incentives as well. I’m still reward motivated even though I’m older now, so I think this is equally as cool.

By: usedcardboardboxes

usedcardboardboxes — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:27:14 +0000

Hey this is a great post. You gave me an idea with segmenting the chores list. If working on maximum efficiency, then definitely filling up the car with gas while grocery shopping is great idea. Thanks for that.

By: B @ logos coaching

B @ logos coaching — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:24:02 +0000

I am a big believer in ‘micro productivity’ – fitting those pesking [though necessary] chores into gaps we already have during the day. I do all my kitchen and adjoining room chores when I am waiting for something to boil, microwave, cook etc in the kitchen. Its amazing how much can be done in mini chunks

By: PJ

PJ — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:55:07 +0000

I’m a visual person — would anybody share a pic of their chore chart?

By: Mia

Mia — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:42:01 +0000

Sounds good. A visual example, would be great.

By: Mina

Mina — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:29:27 +0000

I can’t help but think how boring and unromantic it is to create a chore chart for you and your spouse/SO. Plus, whoever proposes it (probably the woman) comes across like a control freak and/or bully.

I can truly see the need for a system. I’m just saying, I never want to be the one to propose it. Honestly, as a single person, I guess I just don’t want to live with anyone else and ever, ever have to deal with such a thing. One marriage down the drain is enough.

By: WilliamB

WilliamB — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:11:20 +0000

For me this would be sure route to overload madness.

I can think of three really good uses, though, even if one doesn’t need/want it for oneself.

1. One is turning over duties to someone else. It could be a housesitter, a new nanny, whoever’s helping during an extended hospital stay, etc.

2. Showing a housemate or SO what you do to support the household. The grim thing about housework is that few notice it except when it doesn’t get done.

3. Allocating tasks to household members. Much easier to allocate tasks when you know what the tasks are.

By: Charlotte K

Charlotte K — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:40:46 +0000

Reading this makes me tired! I think we may need to free ourselves from some of our impossibly high standards.

Having said that, the way I got myself to do a lot of housework I never had time for was to make a set of little cards with one job on each card. Most jobs only take 5-15 minutes. For example, today’s card was “Clean out the gap between the washing machine and the sink”–stuff would disappear down there and I would never retrieve it. Now it gets done maybe every 45 days. Every day I do one thing; on weekends I pull 3 cards per day. Still not overwhelming. I seeded certain tasks throughout the deck multiple times (“sort papers/pay bills”). This has been working for me now for months. Everything seems magically more orderly and it’s kind of a fun game.

By: GymRatt

GymRatt — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:25:17 +0000

When I was sick for a long time period I learned I could live with more filth than I thought I could. Cats have automatic sounding devices – do you really have to write feed cats down?? Husbands are not much help unless there is some power tool involved.

By: Molly

Molly — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:16:03 +0000

I make these every weekend (that’s when I tend to do the bigger cleaning, with the small stuff like dishwasher loading/unloading during the week), and I LOVE crossing things off. The whole “reward” thing is totally for me.

By: Anita

Anita — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:09:15 +0000

Thanks for this very timely post! My boyfriend and I are moving in together in a couple of months, and a chore chart will be a good way to get us started.

While on that topic, would you consider writing a post on the subject — an uncluttered way to merge two households? I know there are lots of posts on here about moving, but don’t remember one about moving in with your SO or with a roommate. Some things stand to reason (e.g. get rid of duplicates and keep the item in better condition and/or that’s better suited to the new place etc), but I guess I’m looking for anything I may have forgotten or not thought of yet.

Oh and I also feed my cats twice a day. They’re indoor cats, so no wildlife for them to eat, plus one is developing a bit of a weight problem so I like to keep an eye on how much she eats.

By: Michele Connolly, Get Organized Wizard

Michele Connolly, Get Organized Wizard — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 07:32:58 +0000

At first I found it really helpful to create both a daily and weekly chore chart.

I no longer need them, but they set the habit for me.

I also wrote a post that might be helpful on creating chore charts (there’s a free chart too):
http://www.getorganizedwizard......ission-24/

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:25:26 +0000

Two things jump out at me on this post. #1 – “Laundering bathroom towels and sheets in the same load.” Oh no…I can’t stand the little fuzz balls that get all over sheets when washed with towels!! #2 – “Divide the responsibilities equally.” Can someone post a tutorial on how to get DH of 30 years to buy-in to that idea

By: Rosie from HomeRoutines

Rosie from HomeRoutines — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:56:53 +0000

If you’re keen on routines, there’s an app for that We made an app called HomeRoutines that is designed exactly for wrangling these sorts of repetitive tasks, without letting them clutter up your email and calendar or overwhelm your to-do list. Also you get gold stars!