We Need Helpers!
This idea isn’t new, but it’s true — I’ve known it since I was a kid. Think like a first-grader for a moment: “One mom takes five hours to handle household chores. But what if the whole family pitches in?” I once timed our weekly cleaning and it took three hours. Where did the time go? I kept getting sidetracked by little things. Last week my husband and I cleaned together and it took just two hours. He definitely saw the benefits of teamwork.
Attention to Detail
I think the most important thing is that every family member cleans up after themselves and puts things back where they belong. Even my four-year-old puts her toys away when she’s done. As adults, we can set the same example. In the evenings I do a quick damp wipe-down of the room and air it out. It only takes 15–20 minutes, but I do it every day.
Dividing Responsibilities
In our one-bedroom apartment, weekly cleaning takes 25 minutes — we’ve tested this over time. My husband’s tasks include cleaning the bathroom, sink, toilet, stove, and shaking out the rugs. He has the strength for those jobs; I don’t. I dust and mop the floors. You wouldn’t believe how much free time that frees up.
And What If There Are Kids
Our oldest is 7 and the youngest isn’t even a year old. Our place isn’t fully equipped: we don’t have hot water and we heat with a wood stove. That doesn’t stop us from keeping the home clean and orderly. We divide the tasks. Our son helps too — he makes sure the rugs are spotless, and then he watches his little brother so the grown-ups can keep working without interruptions. I can’t imagine managing without that help.
Don’t Put Things Off
My husband and I wash the small things as they come; we don’t let them pile up for a “big wash.” It takes us at most half an hour. Why wait to wash 11–15 pounds of laundry over two weeks? Kids’ clothes and my husband’s shirts can run while dinner’s cooking — it hardly takes any time and it’s not tiring. Washing bed linens is a bigger job, so we send those to the laundromat. That help is invaluable. I used to hesitate to send things out, thinking it would take half a day to wash and half a day to iron. Now I have free time.
Combine Tasks
“When did you manage to do that?” “Oh, just in between tasks,” I reply. That little “in between tasks” gradually saves minutes and then hours.
Don’t Drag Your Feet!
Who are you trying to teach? Some homemakers are always on the go, while others dawdle — unsure whether to start. You can’t teach those procrastinators anything if they don’t want to change.
I have a friend in the capital who wrote: “I spend a lot of time on family chores, even though it’s just the two of us. Maybe it’s my slow, methodical approach to cooking or laundry. For anyone who feels slow, there are a few tips. First, what determines speed? Character, health, skills, and desire. If the first factors don’t cooperate (though they can be retrained), desire is simple: you just have to want it. A slow homemaker can reflect, reorganize her work, and try to do the same tasks a bit faster. You can make the bed, prepare breakfast, or tidy up without worrying about the time. Or give yourself a little nudge, almost like a game: I need to do this faster because I have an urgent meeting, I’m late for the theater, or guests are coming!”
Another way to reorganize work is to use a clock. Time a task two or three times, compare the results, and set a target: find ways to cut down time, speed up certain steps, or combine tasks. Another friend challenges herself: her cleaning should take an hour and forty minutes, and she sticks to that timeframe. She’s measured her capabilities several times and found an approach that works for her.
Seek Rational Methods of Work!
Many people feel they lack rational methods for household work. The ideas we’ve discussed — dividing tasks, timing chores, combining steps — are all part of finding better methods. “Rationalization” comes from the Latin rationalis, meaning reasonable. We’ve talked about finding time by improving how we organize work. And we haven’t even mentioned new technologies, which can help too.
