8 Important Reasons ALL Households MUST Have a Chores List for Adults

So, you only thought kids need some guidance when keeping the house clean?

Let’s be honest: adults also don’t like cleaning, but it shouldn’t result in one or two grownups doing all the tidying while the rest do as they please. For families and flat mates, a chores list for adults can be all that stands between you and a better home life.

Just because someone is legally an adult doesn’t mean they do everything one expects of grownups. If we all did, we wouldn’t eat too much chocolate or run red lights, right?

Those are just simple examples that prove most of us still need a little guidance in certain areas of our lives. And if you’re the adult that takes on the responsibility of keeping a living space—home or apartment—clean, you’re probably tired of being the only one that seems to care about it.

Read on and you’ll see how a chore list for adults can help you and the other adults in your home keep order and maintain hygiene. We’ll also tell you how to manage home cleaning efficiently going forward.

 

What’s on a Chores List for Adults?

A chores list for adults is the ideal guideline for cleaning of a house. For flat mates and homes where small kids can’t help clean yet, an adult chores checklist will contain:

• The cleaning chores
• People responsible for each task
• When and how often to perform the task

 

Why a Chores List for Adults? 8 Benefits
It’s not uncommon for roommates and households to use chore lists to manage adults’ tasks. In the same way office policies and legal guidelines help society function better, your chore list can improve your home life. Here’s how.

More Work Gets Done

If you have a list of the tasks everyone must help with, no tasks will be forgotten. No one has an excuse of not knowing what their chore for the week was. You can look forward to eating in a clean kitchen instead of first cleaning up someone else’s mess.

 

Less Conflict in the House

If someone were to forget to clean up the kitchen or scrub the bathroom, you can imagine the animosity it could spark between family members or flat mates.

Even if you love your family, in the hustle and bustle of daily life, something as simple as forgetting to take out the trash or walk the dog can cause someone else to lose his or her temper.

Also, if one party always remembers to perform their tasks and others tend to forget, certain members can feel disrespected. You may feel you’re carrying more responsibility than your flatmate or partner, which can lead to unnecessary fights.

Rather use a chore list to keep everyone focused and on schedule to avoid these uncomfortable situations.

 

Less Stress and Anxiety for Everyone

This conflict can lead to a tense atmosphere at home, which is sure to make you anxious. You may even feel anxiety each day going home wondering if another party remembered their chores or if you’re the one who forgot about a task—again.

An untidy and unclean home can also cause stress for family members who are expecting company. Or perhaps you’re worried the accumulating dust will trigger allergic reactions in someone?

All this can be a thing of the past if a simple list ensures all cleaning is up to date.

 

Enjoy a More Organized Home

With cleaning done and everything in place, your home will be much more organized than before. The benefits that stem from this are numerous:

• No more looking for your keys or the TV remote, because everything’s in their place
• There’s less clutter, so you can make more use of your available space
• With everyone doing their part you have more time to organize other aspects of the home, such as filing or cleaning out the fridge or even just organizing the linen closet

 

When everything has a proper place in the house, there’s no more wasting time and energy looking for items. Can you see the ripple effect of creating a healthy system of getting housework done?

 

More Quality Time with Loved Ones

Since everyone is saving time and effort, you’ll have more free time AND you’ll have the energy to enjoy some quality time with your family or your flat mates. Instead of falling onto the couch—exhausted—late at night after scrubbing the kitchen floor or packing away laundry, you’ll be done much earlier. Now you can join the rest of the crew for a boardgame or catch up on the day’s news.

Sounds nice, right?

When housework is divided equally among everyone and they keep to their responsibilities, it benefits the entire household.

Remember, kids can start helping with chores much earlier than many adults think—even as early as two years old. So, as soon as you deem them ready, give them a few tasks as well, so you can have more and more family time because chores are finished earlier than usual.

But it all starts with a well-organized chore system, with adults setting an example of how it’s done. If the adults don’t do their part, the kids won’t take it seriously once their names also appear on the family chore list.

 

Enjoy Health Benefits of a Cleaner Living Space

You’ll be surprised at how quickly a house can cause health issues if you don’t look after it. For example, something as simple as clutter can be the place where dust accumulates, setting off a coughing fit in anyone who is allergic.

Also, if those supposed to perform chores allow mould to grow, instead of maintaining hygienic bathrooms and kitchens, it all creates health risks.

 

Your Home is Always Guest-Ready

Do you like entertaining but you’re often too embarrassed to open the front door to visitors because of the chaos inside? It’s the case in many households—especially those with small kids—but it doesn’t have to be.

If all the adults understand which chores are important to perform daily and by what time—preferably as early as possible in the day—your home will be more than presentable throughout the week (not only after your cleaning session on Saturday morning).

This requires a proper discussion so everyone understands the necessity of certain tasks AND why there’s a time associated with each task.

Remember to discuss an adults chore list with all relevant parties. When they can offer suggestions and understand your point of view, you may get more buy in and see more tasks completed on time.

 

Prevent Future Messes—A Smart Long-Term Plan

Now, it’s much quicker to clean a bathroom that was also cleaned yesterday than it is scrubbing at mould that settled in between tiles over the past few weeks. This shows the importance of regular cleaning.

A chores list for adults that ensures important tasks get done on a recurring basis—weekly, monthly or quarterly—help you maintain a certain level of cleanliness. That’s much better than having a huge mess to clean every now and then.

This cleaning plan also prevents unnecessary expenses in the long term. You don’t want to attract pests or cause damage to wood or other areas in the home just because someone isn’t doing their chores, right?

 

Tips to Guarantee Adults Will Complete Their Chores

Even when collaborating with adults to keep a space clean, it can be challenging if the team don’t all prioritize their cleaning duties the way you do. This is why many flat mates consider apartment cleaning as a controversial topic. Some can’t agree on what needs to be done and certain flat mates are simply tired of managing the others.

Here are a few tips to use when trying to find a workable cleaning schedule with your partner or new flat mates:

• Be very clear about what each task entails. ‘Clean the bathroom’ can have different meanings for different people, so list your expectations so other parties know what’s required of them.
• Add due dates to a task list, so there aren’t unnecessary misunderstandings or conflict about expectations that aren’t met.
• Start off by discussing and sharing house rules. New flat mates require information so they know what’s expected. The Enzo app is helpful in this regard since it allows easy sharing of details like house rules and the roommate chore chart.
• You can also get a person’s support for a cleaning schedule much easier if you ask for their input in dividing household chores fairly. They may prefer doing chores on certain days or they’re not available on a specific day of the week. Clarify these details from the start to avoid unnecessary conflict.

 

In Conclusion

From enjoying a cleaner, healthier space to never having to face clutter again, you can make it happen!!

While no one—not even adults—really loves housework, it can be much easier to get it done than you think. Bring order to the process with a chores list for adults and benefit from the many helpful features on the Enzo app.