How to Organize the Household Chores

Most people don't like to do chores, making a well-defined organizational system important.

When it comes to keeping a household neat, clean and running smoothly, the organization and distribution of labor is often the most major obstacle to getting things done. To help ensure that chores get completed regularly and relatively free of hassle, be proactive and make a plan to see that those chores get completed when they need to. Organize your chores, along with the schedules of those doing them, to ensure responsible, smoothly operating housework. 

Things You'll Need

• Scratch paper or dry erase board

Instructions

1. Make a list of all chores that need to be done a regular basis. Help yourself remember everything by taking a stroll through your house and yard, looking around for tasks that may commonly be forgotten about or neglected.

2. Determine how often each task needs to be done and how long it takes to do. Write these numbers in separate columns to the right of each item on the list. Make your best guess, then write the numbers in pencil so that you can change them later if the tasks need to be adjusted as people are performing them.

3. Figure out the chore time availability of household members. Factor in things like school, work and activity schedules, as well as other limiting factors like age (since you will probably want to give, say, older family members and young children fewer responsibilities). Make a list of reasonable weekly chore hours for each person.

4. Assign chores that can best or only be done by certain household members. Look over your list for any tasks that require extra strength or specific skills, or any tasks that are the responsibility of someone in particular, like taking care of a pet.

5. Dole out the rest of the chores during a household meeting. Discuss the chores with household members, and see if you can come up with a mutually agreeable distribution of tasks without argument. If this is difficult, write down the chores on slips of paper and have people draw them from a hat until each person's available weekly chore hours are filled. 

References

• "Organizing Plain and Simple: A Ready Reference Guide with Hundreds of Solutions to Your Everyday Clutter Challenges;" Donna Smallin; 2002

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish