Suggestions for Organizing Housework

Mention anything with suggestions for organizing housework, and you get every homemaker's attention.

 Nineteenth-Century Thoughts on Housework

As society gradually shakes off the remnants of barbarism, a truer estimate is formed of woman's duties, and of the measure of intellect requisite for the proper discharge of them. Let any man of sense and discernment become the member of a large household, in which a well-educated and pious woman is endeavoring systematically to discharge her multiform duties; let him fully comprehend all her cares, difficulties, and perplexities; and it is probable he would coincide in the opinion that no statesman, at the head of a nation's affairs, had more frequent calls for wisdom, firmness, tact, discrimination, prudence, and versatility of talent, than such a woman.

An excerpt from "The American Woman's Home", by Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1869.

Every woman would agree that housework is constant and grueling. Nevertheless, housewives don't get a fair observation; they never have. Women (homemakers) are always looking for easier, more practical ways of taking care of personal chores at home.

In society, your self-worth or individual value depends on how much "material" you own. It uses Whether you "have a job" determines whether you receive basic respect as a person or for what you accomplish.

The ideal situation for disgruntled housewives would include having a maid; that way, you wouldn't have to do anything except what you choose to do.

But do you REALLY want a maid? Are you comfortable with someone having that much access to private sections of your life?

For those who would rather take care of their own home and household chores, here are a few suggestions:

• Make a habit of returning everything to its proper place and remind others to do so. Doing this daily takes less time than waiting until the situation is out of control. What's more, you won't have to spend time looking for out-of-place objects.

• Do small chores as their need occurs so that it takes little time. For example, laundry left until the weekend can consume the weekend; instead, start a load before breakfast, put it in the dryer after breakfast, and it's done!

• In planning the week's chores, try to set aside a free day (or at least a few hours) for yourself to do whatever you want--whether it's a day out of the house or time alone to finish that book you started several months ago.

• Use labor-saving gadgets or appliances whenever possible; they'll really save time. But don't overdo it, chopping an onion with a knife may take no longer than using a food processor and then having to take the machine apart to wash and dry it.

• Leave some slack in your day for surprises, interruptions, or emergencies. Nevertheless, some activities will take longer than expected, no matter how carefully you plan.

• Think before you act, even before doing routine jobs. The way you perform simple, basic tasks is usually the result of habit, not logic. There may be a better way.

• Why does a half-hour job often take twice as long as you thought it would? Probably because you estimated only the actual working time and didn't take into account the preparation--getting out and putting away tools, for instance.

• Tackle big tasks a bit at a time. Straightening every closet in the house might take days; one closet, especially one that hasn't gotten too cluttered, may take no longer than 15 or 20 minutes.