It’s no secret that my entire family participates in household chores. Just the act of family working together has played a huge role in achieving our long-term goals, but more than that, it’s instilled a feeling that we are all in this together, through the highs and the lows.
Of course, it can be difficult to get everyone on the same page and not just yelling at each other throughout the process, which is why I’ve put together the following list of steps to take when you embark on a whole family chore system (or another similar process to help you achieve your goal).
Tip: Grab my FREE Weekly Household Task Checklist to keep you on track, without the stress and overwhelm!
Step 1: Create a List of Chores
The easiest way to start is to simply make a list of all the tasks in the house that need to be taken care of weekly. Go through each room of your home and decide what needs to be done to keep it to the level that makes you happy.
For example, your bathroom might require someone to wipe down the counters, scrub the toilet, clean the mirror, scrub the floors, and wipe out the shower. The formal living room, on the other hand, might only require occasional dusting and rearranging the decorative pillows.
Tip: Grab your free weekly household task template to keep you (and your family) on track without the stress and overwhelm.
When you are specific in the tasks that need to be completed, there won’t be any question as to whether the room is clean.
“Moms do a lot of work. It’s good for kids to help out, too.” – Krista Brumley, age 12
Step 2: Allow People to Pick Their Favorites
Once you have that list in hand, give your family some choice in their chores. For younger children, it might be a one or the other option (i.e. would you like to wipe the doorknobs or the light switches?), but for the older kids, you may tell them to pick a few to be responsible for.
Ultimately, you’ll want them to be age appropriate, but it’s okay to give them something just slightly over their heads and teach them how to do it well. In our case, one of my favorite memories is that of Krista’s disgust that I didn’t match the socks once they were done being washed. Honestly, matching socks is (aside from vacuuming) one of my least favorite tasks, so I’d never made it a habit.
No problem, though, because even at age 5, she was ready and willing to do the job herself – for the whole family, too! It just took a little educating and a whole lot of practice, but to this day, she’s still our resident sock-matching expert.
Step 3: Have a Reason
Justin and I have off and on been a two-working-parent family so, when we weren’t willing to spend the money to pay a housecleaner to come in, it was important that we both chip in to get the necessary work done. It’s something that we’ve passed on to our kids as well.
Everyone participates, and if they don’t, they lose the privileges associated with those tasks. In fact, my daughters (most days) recognize that having the opportunity to make a bed is a privilege in itself, mostly because if they didn’t have to make their bed, it would be because they didn’t have one.
Sometimes the idea of it being a privilege is reason enough to participate, but for us, we’ve taken it a step further. While we’ve always had chores as a family, for many years we hired a housecleaning service to come in on a regular basis and take care of the nitty gritty stuff that we never seemed to get to.
When we started out with our long-term goal of being debt free by 40, however, our family decided together that we were willing to cut that expense. Ultimately, it added up to a significant chunk of money over the course of a year, and while we miss coming home to a fresh and completely clean living environment, we are willing to set that aside for purpose of achieving that goal.
I’m not going to say that everyone’s attitude is always perfect around the idea of doing chores, but I will say that when someone mentions our “why”, everyone gets a little more excited.
Like anything else, when you have that “why”, you (and your family) are more likely to succeed.
Step 4: Remain Consistent
You’ve done the work to put the chore list together. Everyone knows what their tasks are. They even know which day to do them on. But the problems start the moment you aren’t consistent. Trust me, I know. In fact, I meet huge resistance if I ask a child (or my spouse) to do a task on a day it’s not meant to be done.
My suggestion: stay consistent. REALLY consistent.
We’ve embraced several different methods of consistency, but the most effective for us has been to get chores done first thing in the morning. Everyone is fresh and, because there’s a timeframe involved (i.e. someone needs to eat breakfast and get to school/work as well), it motivates everyone to stay focused so they can get the job done.
Ultimately, it’s up to you and your family as to what time is best to get those tasks completed, but you definitely don’t want to have that one person trying to get their chore done when they should already have moved off to bedroom time. (Or is it just me that really enjoys my evenings of silence?)
Step 5: Incentivize
Last and finally, incentives do work.
I’m hesitant to mention them, mostly because we’ve found them to be more of a frustration than a help when it comes to building comradery in our family, but we do use them occasionally.
On Saturdays, when we embrace a full house clean, one of my favorite incentives involves putting four, full-size candy bars on the counter for my family to look at. While breakfast or making it out of the house on time on a weekday is enough to get the family motivated, Saturday cleaning times tend to drag on and on, but that candy bar gets everyone moving.
No one ever knows who is going to pick the best candy bar, so getting tasks done quickly (and well – because no one wants mom to make you do it again) is a high priority.
It’s definitely family specific, though. Maybe your family is motivated by lunch out or a trip to the dollar store. Whatever you decide, keep it consistent and you’ll see greater results.
What’s Your Situation?
Chores and housework are a big deal for our family when it comes to meeting our budget. Without a clear-cut schedule of who does what and when, we find ourselves miserable and willing to call the cleaners again, no matter the expense.
For you, it might be different, though.
Perhaps your financial (or personal) goal means that your family has to focus harder on meal planning, sticking to a grocery budget, cutting back those random expenses, or avoiding the candy aisle altogether.
Whatever it is for you, make a plan with your family and get everyone on board with your “why” so that they feel engaged and part of something bigger than the menial task they’ve been asked to do.
Leave a comment below and let me know how you are motivating your own family to help you toward a long-term goal.
Tip: Don’t forget to grab this FREE cleaning task list! Find it HERE.
