When Chores Are Your Down Time, Something Needs To Change

Do you ever feel like house work, errands, and chores are the only time when you’re not being bothered? After all, you might be distracted enough to not want to reach for the bad habits you’re trying to quit.

So when you’re honest with yourself, working around the house is the one and only time when you can actually have 5 minutes of peace and quiet.

You’re not at work, and if you’re a parent, the kids won’t be on at you. It’s just you, your broom or dust cloth, and the headphones you can put on to listen to an audio book at the same time.

And it’s nice. It’s just a shame that your ‘down time’ still requires you to do some work. Even when you’re feeling at peace and like you can actually try and relax a bit, you’re still grafting and cleaning up and tiring yourself out. It’s no wonder you feel like you need a crutch.

It’s such a shame, in fact, that we think something needs to change here. When chores are your down time – and the one time when you can actually get this kind of down time – something has simply got to give.

And before it’s your mental health that gives way, here’s what actually needs to change right now.

You Need Some Boundaries

And to put some in place, you need to think about why you have no down time otherwise. What’s going on with your life and schedule that leaves you with no free moments to yourself?

You’ve just come in from work and the kids are immediately asking for something. Tell them they need to go and find something to do on their own. Or that they can come back in half an hour (and you can tell them the exact time to watch for on the clock) and ask you then.

And if they do come back before then, more time gets added. Remember, boundaries are one thing, enforcing them is another!

Or maybe it’s the fact that you’re never actually off the clock from work. You’re a busy professional, and that leaves you with no time for the human being.

So when you’re off the clock, you’re off the clock. Switch off for the better. There’s so much growth that can come out of enforcing boundaries like this.

Let’s Speed Things Up!

If chores are the only time when you can have moments to yourself, we need to get some more of those moments rolling.

One of the best ways to do that is to try and speed things up a little. And no, we’re not saying you just need to work faster. You’re already giving it your all, and we’re not here to actually try and break you down.

Instead, simply get involved with a few ways to take the bulk of the hard work off of your hands. Here’s a couple of ideas to try out:

Bundle up your tasks

Anything you can get done with a ‘two in one’ approach? Bundle them up. Parents are great multitaskers, as we all know, so why not use it to your own benefit for once?

Here’s a quick example: Say you’re putting a load of laundry on. Depending on where your washing machine is, lift the toilet lid, put the bleach down, and let it sit and disinfect for the same amount of time it takes for the spin cycle to finish.

Then give the bowl a quick scrub and flush when you come back to change the loads over.

Use power tools/automatic cleaners

You don’t need to put all the effort in; you simply don’t need to! Get the tools you use to actually do their jobs themselves as well!

For one thing, start using a few more power tools around the house – and around the garden. Get yourself an electric weed eater for chopping back the thistles and moss when it starts growing around the kids’ playhouse.

We’ll always recommend getting an actual robot to help out too. We all know and love the little robot vacuums that slowly beep around living rooms, so why not get one for yourself?

Parent? The Kids NEED to Start Helping

You’re not the only person who lives in your house. Even if the kids are young and you want them to be carefree, they can still help you out.

It’s the best way for them to learn how to do the fundamental things every adult needs to be able to do to fend for themselves.

But seeing as they’re still kids, here’s how to approach getting them involved:

Start with one small task

Don’t overwhelm them with a million things to do. Start small and get them used to it, then start adding other responsibilities.

Have a rewards chart

Of course, no adult gets shiny stickers or some extra cash for making sure there are no clothes on the floor! It would be nice if we did.

But when you want to motivate kids to keep up with a cleaning rota, a rewards chart works wonders.

Remember Free Time? Let’s Reintroduce You

If it seems like free time has slipped out of your grasp and ran away, and you can barely even remember its face these days, we’re here to reintroduce you.

Because the house work should not be the one and only time you get some time to yourself! We really cannot stress that enough.

You need to set some boundaries – and then actually enforce them. You might need to approach the work you’re doing a bit differently. And you might even need to think about your own sense of perfectionism.

After all, are you really the one and only person who can wipe down the counters just right? Or are the kids just kids, and not quite all that amazing at making sure there’s no crumbs left anywhere? Remember, there’s only way they’re going to learn how to do it properly!