Chore Chart -- Suggestions?

20 years ago

The thing I've found that works really well for my husband and myself is if we have a chore chart. I've gotten it down to a reasonable level, so that neither of us has to do more than 15 minutes of chores a day, and yet our house stays relatively clean (relatively clean for us may be pretty messy to others. :) But we don't have kids, and we're usually not the type to allow things to pile up too badly or get really trashy.)

As new home-owners, though, I'm adding in a list of rotational tasks that have to be done on Saturdays -- sort of a thing where we can look at the list, and say "I haven't done this in a while, it probably needs to be done again." Has anyone got any suggestions of things to add to what's below?

(G is my husband, R is me)

Monday

G: dishes, countertops, stove

R: kitty box, swiffer, bedroom pickup

Tuesday

G: office & game room pickup

R: dishes, countertops, stove

Wednesday

G: dishes, countertops, stove

R: kitty box, living room pickup

Thursday

G: trash, dust

R: dishes, countertops, stove

Friday

G: kitty box, swiffer

R: dishes, countertops, stove

Saturday

G: shower, rotating tasks

R: bathrooms, rotating tasks

Sunday

G: dishes, countertops, stove

R: clean out fridge, kitchen & DR pickup

Rotating Tasks

G: bug spray, sweep backyard, add water to pool,

examine eaves/foundation, tidy garage, wash car(s), clean

gutters, check filters

R: laundry, cut catsÂ nails, wash floors, windows,

baseboards, vacuum rugs, clean oven, tidy closets

Note: we don't have to cut the lawn or do gardening tasks, since we have a gardener. Thank god!

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Comments (4)

lpolk
20 years ago
Well, I know this is mentioned all the time, but I use the Flylady system (flylady.net). She breaks up the house into zones, and every day you have a Zone "mission." It could be:

- pick up all the knick knacks in the living room and dust them

- dust the tops of your door casing and baseboards

- clean out your jewelry box

- clean out medecine cabinet, toss expired meds and make list of things to update

Today's is: take a toothbrush and scrub around the kitchen faucet, get all the gunk out of all the crevices, take the faucets and really shine them up.

...And a million other things that are really helpful, especially when given one at a time which is manageable. She uses a whole "system" that if you didn't want to use, you could just check the website every day for the "mission of the day" to add to your daily list, alternating who does it. On the website, on the left, check out "Fly Zone" then go to "kelly's mission" it changes every day.

Of course, you could sign up for the whole thing, which is great, but takes a commitment to really do it! Do a search on this forum for more info if interested, or read her website.

I do it all myself. :) DH does dishes, and his own laundry, for which I am grateful, but the rest is up to me. I use her whole system, and Flylady really makes it manageable, since we both work full time. The mission of the day really picks out stuff that you never think to do but makes a huge difference.
koala_em
20 years ago
LOL lpolk! That was exactly where I was going to suggest too!

It's GREAT!!!!!!!
If your system is working- good for you. One minor thought- I find my DH is a bit thick at times and I found myself feeling like I had walk him through the routine every time- the "It's Thursday... you dust today" type conversations. What he has responded better to it's ALWAYS his turn to so chore XYZ and always my turn to do chore ABC -rather than alternate it. Some men are simple folk that way... LOL!!

Em
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jannie
20 years ago
I have re-subscribed to Flylady. What I like is her "Jump right in. You're never behind" system where you clean your whole house in one month, based on breaking it down to weekly "zones". Personally, with two cats sharing one cat box, I have to scoop every single day.
Katy
20 years ago
Fly Lady has a book that fun to read too!