495 - The Process of Equitably Dividing Housework

Over the last several weeks, we've been talking about the history and importance of Home Economics.

Listen to all of the episodes in this series:

• The History of Home Economics In Lisa’s Family - #492
• The Secret History of Home Economics Part 1 (1800-1940) - #493
• The Secret History of Home Economics Part 2 (1940 - Now) - #494

I left you last week with the promise of the story of how my house didn’t fall apart while I was on the book tour last summer. This story really begins in 2012.

So, back in 2012, I started getting organized. In Organization is a Learnable Skill, I share this story and how I went from being overweight and depressed to organized and starting a company.

What happened next was the realization that I could teach this skill of organization through a podcast and courses. The problem? Well, about 5 or 6 years ago, I found that I was out of time. With everything I was doing at home, I only had about 6 hours a day to devote to Organize 365®. I tried working until late at night. I tried working on the weekends. My family wasn't happy because they only saw my working hours and it looked like I was always working. I just didn't have any additional time in my days to grow my business and I didn't have the finances to hire any more people.

In this episode, I want to share with you how I worked myself out of jobs at home to make time to do what I'm uniquely created to do!

At that time, my kids were in high school and I was driving them 25 hours a week. I was doing all of the household chores except taking out the trash and mowing the lawn. So, I made some decisions. I abdicated everything related to cooking, except doing the dishes. Greg took this area on. I delegated the house cleaning to a housekeeper. For a period of time, I even hired out most of the laundry to our local dry cleaner.

The Sunday Basket® and my weekly Sunday Basket® routine took the load of many of the invisible things. The routine running of the household takes place during my Sunday Basket® time. Bill paying, holiday planning, date night planning, vacation planning, reordering prescriptions, making doctor appointments, placing online orders, scheduling car maintenance, and more. Anything related to running errands, I place orders to be shipped or picked up instead of running around town.

As far as organization is concerned, there wasn't much left. My husband and kids handled their own personal organization, I was personally organized, the storage area was organized, and my paper was organized. These things only needed maintenance. That only left family and communal spaces. Because I have a house cleaner, all that's left is for me to just make sure that those spaces are picked up regularly. 

When I left for the book tour last summer, Greg was sure that the house would fall apart without me. But, it didn't! Everyone continued to do the things they do and they figured out how to handle the dishes. Every member of our family is now capable of making a meal, cleaning, and doing their laundry. They handle their own personal and paper organizing needs. I have worked myself out of these jobs!

What job can you start working yourself out of so you have more time to do what YOU are uniquely created to do?

The Productive Home Solution™ and the Sunday Basket® System can help you take control of your home and paper starting today! The Sunday Basket® System alone can give you back 5 hours a week of your time!