And the secret to making headlines so fun you have to clip is to include bait like "the poop rule." But I will go in there to save you from the temptation and give you more time for brainwashing yourself into the enjoyment of chores that, if done, will actually benefit you.
"The poop rule" is: "When decluttering, ask yourself, 'If this item was covered in poop, would I still keep it?'"
That's a little harsh. I prefer the rule: If your friend were decluttering and wanted to deaccession this item, would you add it to your collection of stuff?
Anyway... I made that a gift link so the pay wall wouldn't factor into your experience of temptation to click. Otherwise it's sour grapes: I couldn't get past the paywall anyway. No, you can get it, but can you resist? There might be a useful tip or 2.
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38 comments:
@althouse You do realize that your gift link requires us to give WaPo our email address? No thanks.
@nancy Yes. I can't change that. It is what it is.
Brought to you by the people who coined the term 'adulting'
Wish they'd grow up.
The WaPo asks for my email . . . and is full of poop, so I don't look.
One way to make chores more fun is to watch others do them.
A lark! A spree! It’s very clear to meeeee… thaaat….aaa…
Spoonful of poop helps the medicine go down,
The medicine go down,
The medicine go down,
Just a spoon full of poop helps the medicine go down,
In the most delightful way!
CC, JSM
Narr: “ One way to make chores more fun is to watch others do them.”
Girls have told me they find it hot to watch a man do housework. Of course, they could be lying. Assuming they’re not, I had the idea to start an Onlyfans called Domestic Daddy. No nudity, just me doing chores and tersely describing what I’m doing in kind of a dom voice: “you have to spray Endust on the Swiffer pad so it really picks up everything,” etc.
Still might do it if none of my other job ideas work out. CC, JSM
FYI
"Oprah Winfrey notably brought the word "poop" into mainstream television conversation during the May 3, 2005, episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show.This landmark episode focused on digestive health and featured Dr. Mehmet Oz, marking a significant shift in daytime TV by openly discussing bodily functions."
Приветствую, товарищи!
It makes cleaning fun ... if thinking everything you own is covered in shît is fun for you ...
Person of Orange (PoO). This is about the "burden" of Trump, right?
My criterion is whether something is valuable or useful enough to make my kids deal with it when it's time for the inevitable "Dead Bart Sale".
The poop rule is heavy on the cute, light on the usefulness. I'm not going to live without everything that, were poop to get on it, it would be easier/cheaper to replace than clean. That would be a dumb way to live your life.
If your friend were decluttering and wanted to deaccession this item, would you add it to your collection of stuff?
Oh, that's a good rule
Somewhat equivalent to the pre-chore - my wife insists on tidying up the night before the cleaning people come to clean the house.
Does it say whose poop it is. That could factor into my decision.
This is stupid. Just fucking do the chore.
...the spark joy model of decluttering works just fine. Why reinvent the wheel...spa see ba...
The poop rule prioritizes items that are easy to clean. I don't value my possessions in order of ease in cleaning. For example, unique and meaningful photographs would be irretrievable once covered in poop. A generic and unsentimental piece of costume jewelry would be easy to de-poopify.
I think the best cleaning tip that's about turning it into fun is to set a timer for something like 20 minutes. Just do that each day and do any cleaning task and you must stop when the time is up. It's quite energizing and afterwards you feel good about how much you got done.
@tommyesq. Same here. The day before the cleaning lady arrives I have to pre-clean the two end tables beside my recliner and my dresser per my wife’s instructions. I stuff all my papers in the drawers. After the cleaning lady leaves, I’m open for business again. Silly I know.
"I think the best cleaning tip that's about turning it into fun is to set a timer for something like 20 minutes. Just do that each day and do any cleaning task and you must stop when the time is up. It's quite energizing and afterwards you feel good about how much you got done."
I have used a stopwatch for mundane tasks. Thinking about washing car seems like PITA. Reality, less than 15 mins from getting off couch to washing, drying, putting everything away.
Same for mowing lawns, faster than imagined.
Latest, 7 mins, 43 seconds to get up, make a BLT, put everything away, and sit down to eat it.
"tommyesq said...
Somewhat equivalent to the pre-chore - my wife insists on tidying up the night before the cleaning people come to clean the house."
Wife will do quick de-clutter when expecting company. I emailed her co worker and offered $10.00 if she would tell wife she was coming for visit.
Has cost me $40.00 so far. Well worth it
I just put airpods in and listen to a book or podcast. That really works for me.
For those who think it’s weird to clean up BEFORE a cleaning lady comes-do you hire her to CLEAN or CLEAN UP?
A big difference in my world.
I would never pay someone to straighten my paperwork or books. I would pay them to dust, wash, etc. whatever surface was under that stuff of mine.
If it's covered in poop, there's someone on the internet who will pay extra for it.
Should we balance imagining our things covered in poop with imagining the landfills overflowing with our discarded stuff?
My daughter and son-in-law hired a dog sitter off Rover while out of town for about 4 days - the sitter (unkown to them) was an alcoholic in recovery who lapsed, drank their entire liquor supply and then pooped and vomited over a big chunk of their really nice apartment, allowing them to apply the poop rule on a truly non-theoretical basis.
My rule is if it were sitting by the side of the road would I stop and pick it up?
"Levi Starks said...
My rule is if it were sitting by the side of the road would I stop and pick it up?"
Freeway, or residential? Makes a difference.
I hear my mother remarking that not everything in life is supposed to be fun.
Feces are fertile growers. Go green.
I clean off my end tables of all my papers, magazines and books so the cleaning lady can dust them. In reality there is no dust for obvious reasons.
"Two ways to read this article:"
No, there are three (at least). Here's the another one, no email needed.
https://archive.ph/laOVL
"another one", not "the another one".
I see posts on Reddit quite frequently from younger people going on about HOW LONG CLEANING TAKES and "my God how does anyone manage to keep their place clean help I"m spending hours???" Now, I live with a germaphobe/clean freak. One elderly cat, no other pets or kids. Four bedroom house. We spend, at most, a couple hours A WEEK! WTF are people doing, sanitizing and cleaning on par with a surgical suite? Laundry only takes long enough to stick it in the machines - how neurotically one folds in on them. I do not get this whining about cleaning. I SUSPECT most of the whiners are women, but I could be wrong. Seems that women have to complain about cleaning even if it's only THEM!
“ The WaPo asks for my email . . . and is full of poop, so I don't look.”
It’s a small amount of work but go on google and make an easy to remember Gmail address and pw. Use that and never look at it.unless they send you a code.
Best thing I ever did was buy a roomba-type vacuum. Just a bit over a hundred bucks. All of our main floor is all wood (red oak and beetle-kill blue pine) with no area carpets.
I turn that puppy on, go off to do other things and when she's done I'll sponge mop some of the heavy traffic areas and that's it.
What used to take between an hour and 90 minutes now takes a total of five or 10. It's not even a chore anymore.
Adults do chores because they have to be done. There's no need to channel Mary Poppins and find the element of fun.
Chores as unpleasant? Cool Hand Luke handled an unpleasant chore the best, making the shoveling of gravel on a hot summer day into a race, just for the fun of not doing it any more, sooner.
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