Chores a Bore? Not Anymore!
“Alright girls, get ready, get set, GO!” My dad looked at his stopwatch as my sisters and I gleefully crawled around the room on our hands and knees grabbing as many toys as we could to toss them into the bins and boxes my parents had given us to store them in. This was becoming the nightly pick up routine and it was, by my account, a lot more fun when you were racing your sister to see who could finish first.
My dad was onto something there. He knew that by turning a chore we had to do into a game, we’d actually get it done a lot more quickly and with far less complaining. This same mentality can easily apply to chores we groan about as teens or adults. When you find yourself struggling to cross off certain chore goals, these ideas might be just what you need to power through.
Pair it with a movie or a t.v. show. This is one of my favorite chore “cheats.” I actually look forward to folding and putting away the laundry when I know that I’ll get to watch something I’ve been wanting to see while I do it.
Crank up the music. Sometimes we just need a good playlist to get ourselves moving and raise our spirits. Pick upbeat songs. If you aren’t sure where to start, our family loves the music of Parov Stelar for chore time.
Turn it into a race or a competition. If there’s someone else in the house who can pitch in on the chore with you, make it fun by inviting them to race against you. Or, if you’re cleaning the bathroom solo, race the clock.
Give yourself an incentive or reward to work toward. Some chores are just too daunting to make appealing by turning on a movie or listening to music. For these humdingers, pick something that you know would motivate you and promise yourself that you can have it or do it only after the dreaded chore is complete.
Create your own chore chart. This one isn’t just for kids. Sometimes we approach tasks better when we can anticipate them and plan them into our schedule. Maybe for you, picking a certain day of the week to tackle chores is best, or perhaps you want to divide them up onto certain days. Go with whichever works best for you.
Keep it short. Some tasks are just going to go down smoother when you don’t try to do it all at once. Fifteen minutes of picking up per day, for example, is a far better habit to develop than trashing your room for a whole month and then needing to spend an entire day getting on top of things again. Little bits of time spent cleaning here and there can really add up in the long run.
Carry on a conversation while you complete the chore. A good talk with a friend can be the perfect distraction for a long drive or a mundane chore.
Challenges/Points:
Chores usually aren’t innately fun, but we can approach them in ways that make us less likely to put them off.
Try watching something while you do a chore or listening to upbeat music.
Reward systems and turning chores into games make routine tasks more interesting.
Questions:
Do you struggle to feel motivated to complete your chores?
Which of the above suggestions appeals the most to you?
What chore do you hate the most? What chore don’t you mind doing?
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