The Secret to Household Chores and How to Get Them Done

Apr 2018

When you think of housework or household chores, do you think of a male or female?

Come on, be honest…you don’t have to be a misogynistic prick to immediately think feminine thoughts. We’ve been conditioned to automatically think household chores are synonymous with mom, female, lady, housewife and so on.

This outdated concept is attributed to a combination of antiquated cultural norms and preconceived domestic behaviors. Also, it could be the fact that there is the term ‘cleaning lady’ while ‘cleaning man’, other than Mr. Clean, remains widely un-used.

Today’s post is not some hyperfeminine commentary on how I know I make significantly less than my male counterparts at work, though I am equally qualified, and it’s certainly not about how mindful I am getting dressed for work on a daily basis; I wouldn’t want to open any uncertainty about how hard I’ve worked to get to my position…

So Then What Is This Post About?

Today’s post is about how Andrew and I use a little something called ‘roles and responsibilities’ to keep our nest neat and tidy. In essence, it’s about how we maintain and mutually accomplish our shared household chore responsibilities.

That roundabout intro about gender roles was mainly to get your attention!

Roles and Responsibilities in Business

In business, roles and responsibilities are key for an organization to accomplish its mission. Each job has a job description which includes a list of roles and responsibilities. Different roles have different responsibilities based on what that person is good at and hired to do.

Defined and consistent roles and responsibilities combined with teamwork are what leads to the achievement of common goals. Teamwork can improve morale, enhance relationships, increase innovation and help foster a thriving environment. Whether you work for a family business or a Fortune 500 company, I guarantee that the best work and ideas come out of groups of people, organized via complementary and defined roles and responsibilities, working together to accomplish common goals.

How Can We Apply Roles and Responsibilities to Those Fun Household Chores?

You can apply the same principle to your household chores by defining roles and responsibilities to the members of your household.

With Andrew and I, our mutual goal is to ensure that it won’t be embarrassing to have guests pop over and see that there are pee splashes on the toilet rim. With that in mind, we started thinking through what made sense for each of us to be responsible for; over a bottle of wine of course.

I grew up in a household in which both my mom and my dad worked full-time jobs, which they still hold today. Growing up, they split household chores equally and when we were old enough my brothers and I also took on some of the responsibility. Our roles and responsibilities had to do with capability and age. My brothers are older than me and were asked to do more “intensive” chores such as yard work and cleaning the pool. But you better believe that when I was in high school I too was asked to start cleaning the pool!

I fully intend to carry on this delegation of tasks and gender-neutral upbringing.

What is Our Dog Leia’s Role in All This You Ask?

When Andrew and I moved in together I quickly understood that his OCD has its benefits; thankfully he enjoys a spotless house as much as I do. This also made our delineation of chores much easier. Now, Leia is one lady who cannot be bothered. Sure, lay around all day while I slave away so that I can afford to buy her organic treats and freeze-dried Salmon Tunalini; gluten free of course.

Shiba Inu’s are great dogs, highly intelligent and loyal when trained correctly. The only downside, in my opinion, is the shedding. This shedding contributes to why we must clean our floors so often. I shit you not when I say that if I saved Leia’s dropped fur from the past 5 years, I could have carpeted our entire living space by now.

With full-time jobs, you can never underestimate the pleasure of waking up on a Saturday or Sunday with no plans and no laundry to do. To ensure that we enjoy each and every weekend we clean the house during the week. We also split up our tasks equally over the course of the “work” week.

How We Do It (… Assigning Household Chores That Is)

This is where ‘roles and responsibilities’ come into play. First, we established roles, Andrew is what I like to call my clean floor specialist. My fiancé is probably one of Swiffer’s biggest fans and also thinks this commercial is pretty funny. Andrew is primarily dedicated to our floors, and I am equally driven to ensure that things have and are kept in their place.

We are minimalists and therefore do not have a ton of stuff, but believe me, the few items we do have all have a place and are kept that way!

I actually enjoy grocery shopping so I gladly took that task on. I also had no issue taking on watering the plants as I have found it can be quite therapeutic.

We then assigned responsibilities or tasks:

Andrews role is ‘clean floor and bathroom specialist’ and his responsibilities are:

Vaccum, Swiffer and clean all floors

Bathroom toilets, sinks, and mirrors

My role is ‘everything else specialist’ and my responsibilities are:

Laundry

Groceries

Watering plants

Then based on our household chore responsibilities we then created a weekly schedule.

Our schedule is as follows:

Note: We complete daily or regular tasks such as doing the dishes, general tidying and taking out the trash on an as-needed basis.

Please also note that the toilet cleaner assignment is not due to some expert skill; Andrew just drew the short straw on that one.

We do occasionally slack off and might miss the household chores of the day due to a happy hour engagement or simply getting home too late from work to lift another finger. But like any good “employee” you just need to play a little catch up over the next day or so. Can always count on Leia to keep us both in line!

How Else Can You Use Roles and Responsibilities in the Home?

Another personal example relates to how we take care of Leia. Leia goes on 2 long walks daily, once in the morning (handled by Andrew, Role: AM dog walker, Responsibility: walk her and pick up her poop) and once in the early evening (done by yours truly, Role: PM dog walker, Responsibility: walk her and leave the poop for someone else to pick up – just kidding!). We also have a backyard that she hangs out in throughout the day when we are home.

I also assumed the responsibility of feeding her (Role: doggie cuisine expert, Responsibilities: feeding the little nugget and making sure she gets enough water). After putting on a few extra pounds early on, Andrew and I realized that we were both feeding her and she was eating double the recommended amount. Having one person feed her ensures that she gets the right amount every day!

When to Use Roles and Responsibilities

To efficiently and effectively accomplish things like household chores or other group activities you too can use roles and responsibilities.

The key to the housework example is to do a little bit each day and split the tasks equally. It makes it digestible and not so burdensome once a week or god forbid once a month. Sure, there are days when we don’t complete our pre-scheduled tasks but we generally catch up the next day.

If I made as much as my male counterparts maybe I could hire someone… until I make that extra $.20 on the dollar, we’ll just be here cleaning the toilets on any given Monday.

Use It or Lose It

To use roles and responsibilities in your house, follow these steps:

Step 1: Figure out what tasks each person is skilled at (or capable of)

Step 2: Define roles based on those skills

Step 3: Add responsibilities or tasks to each role

Step 4: Create a schedule based on each person’s availability

Step 5: Have more time for fun stuff!!

What Do You Think About Using Roles and Responsibilities for Household Chores and Other Things in Your Life?

Have you established roles and responsibilities to make your household chores more efficient? What other areas could you see yourself using them?

Well behaved women rarely make history so keep priming that pump!

Xoxo Bri

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