Professional women, especially those who’re also juggling a family and other responsibilities, are incredible busy – there’s just never enough time to get everything done.
However, when it comes to managing your time and everything you do on the home-front, have you lost sight of the fact that you are a mum and/or partner and/or a flatmate, and not a slave? Have you fallen in to the trap of doing all of the basics for your household?
If the answer is a guilty ‘yes’, it’s time to reframe.
The opposite of ‘Outsourcing’, ‘Insourcing’ includes all the tasks around the house that you don’t want to pay someone to do — particularly everything you currently do at home for your partner and/or kids or flatmates, that they should be doing for themselves.
Depending on their age, the kids will either love helping out at home or they will use every trick in the book to avoid their chores. If your kids are still young then start insourcing as soon as possible. That way it will become a habit. If you kids are older and showing resistance, grit your teeth and persevere – they will eventually get the message.
To get you started, here are twelve rules you can use to get your kids and partner (or perhaps even those flatmates) ‘insourcing’ from today:
- Tidy away your own stuff – if it belongs to you, put it away: laptops, phones, toys, school books, loom bands etc.
- Tidy your own bedroom
- Make your own bed every day
- Hang up your own towel and spread it out so that it dries properly
- Unpack your lunchbox every day and check the bottom of your school bag for leftover fruit and school notices
- Put your dirty clothes in the wash
- Put your clean clothes in the wardrobe
- Put the toilet lid down, replace the toilet roll when it is finished, flush the toilet, put your toothbrush and toothpaste away, rinse the sink.
- Stacking and unstacking the dishwasher
- Clearing the dinner table
- Putting out the bins
- Feeding the pets.
There are also lots of general chores that can be done by anyone in your home, which can be divided between your household members and rotated on a weekly basis, including:
Truly – the list are items that can be shared around instead of being completed solely by you is endless. But these twelve rules for starting are an absolute no brainer.
If you don’t currently insource, take these three simple steps tonight:
- Identify everything that you think can be insourced in your house and write up your Insourcing List.
- Sit down with your kids and partner to brainstorm what else can be added. Getting the family involved will help with their buy in. Explain why, as a family, you now insource (ie., mum does not want to lose her mind). Make sure everyone is clear on what they are responsible for.
- Make multiple copies of the Insourcing List and stick it on the fridge and in other obvious places (like your kids’ bedroom walls). Or copy the Insourcing List on to a whiteboard and keep it in the kitchen.
What do you Insource at your place?