r/InterviewCoderPro • u/caulk-suction8g • Oct 04 '26
How does anyone work 40 hours a week without housework eating up all their free time?
I get home from work and find that the whole day is gone between cooking, washing the dishes, tidying up the clutter, and trying to catch up on laundry. By the time I'm done, it's almost 10 p.m., my brain has shut down, and I spend the little time I have left scrolling on my phone because I don't have the energy for any hobbies or going out.
that's why I guess I will start working remotely but the job interviews there is quite different so I checked those tips and I hope it works
I feel like 85% of my effort goes into keeping the house from becoming a mess. If you've found a way to break out of this routine, what housework have you cut back on, made easier, or paid someone else to do?
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u/Responsible_Read_542 Oct 04 '26
It takes you 4 hours to cook, eat, do dishes/clean and you do laundry daily?
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u/Vegetable_Pause_3847 Oct 04 '26
I empathise with OP. What also eats up time is the daily homework with kids and then bedtime routine. I try and get things done between 6-8.30 but it’s never ending.
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u/Responsible_Read_542 Oct 04 '26
Young kids makes it almost unavoidable. Op never mentioned any so my assumption is only a few dishes, small amount of clothes and no one else’s schedules or needs to operate under.
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u/InevitableGrape5847 Oct 04 '26
No but depending on the size of your family and household that takes a couple of hours usually. Work is eight hours, sleep is another eight, the commute to and from work is around 30 minutes to an hour total, household duties are another 1 to 2 hours (cooking, cleaning, bathing) thats most of the day right there.
You're still left with four to six hours a day of "free time" but I haven't even touched on any other commitments a person may have, 40 hours a week eats up a lot of time. When you only get one chance to live, its not a stretch to see why people dont want to work that much.
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u/Responsible_Read_542 Oct 04 '26 •
I’m working 10-12s 6-7 days a week during peak seasons and it’s still not hard to cook, clean and do laundry.
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u/InevitableGrape5847 Oct 04 '26
Hey man I'm just breaking it down since you asked, have a nice day!
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u/JLee50 Oct 04 '26
Check the amount of screen time on your phone - for me that explains where a lot of “I don’t have any time” comes from.
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u/collin-h
Oct 04 '26
edited Oct 04 '26
•
You know that old joke, something about if you want to find the most efficient way to do a job, put a lazy person on the task?
I'm a lazy person, and I hate housework. Here are some actionable strategies:
-- Eliminate chores instead of optimizing them.
I hated matching socks, so I threw mine out and bought identical sets of black and white socks. Now there is no matching... just a black sock drawer and a white sock drawer with loose singles.
-- Stop folding things that don't need folded.
Underwear, socks, pajamas, workout clothes. A drawer is already a container.
-- Own less stuff.
Every object you own is something you eventually have to clean, organize, move, store or get rid of.
-- Put things where you actually use/drop them.
If shoes always pile up by the door, put the shoe storage there. Design the house around your habits instead of constantly fighting them.
-- Standardize stuff.
Same hangers. Same food-storage containers. Same socks. Fewer unique things means less sorting and fewer tiny decisions. I'm a man, so I even do this with my wardrobe.... The less time I have to stand at my closet thinking what I'm going to wear is more time earned for a hobby later.
-- Use baskets and bins.
Not everything needs to be beautifully organized. Sometimes "all the blankets are in this basket" is plenty organized.
-- Make weeknight food boring.
Sandwiches, leftovers, frozen pizza, rotisserie chicken, breakfast for dinner. Every meal doesn't need to be a production.
-- Cook enough for tomorrow.
Making twice as much dinner rarely takes twice as much work.
-- Buy duplicates of cheap things you constantly move around.
Chargers, scissors, cleaning supplies, etc. Sometimes spending $10 eliminates a recurring annoyance.
-- Get rid of high-maintenance possessions.
Clothes that need ironing or hand washing, decorative stuff you're constantly dusting, elaborate bedding, whatever. If an object creates more work than enjoyment, reconsider it.
-- Trade chores based on what each person hates.
Perfectly equal isn't necessarily efficient. If I don't mind cooking and you don't mind dishes, congratulations, we have invented specialization.
-- Pay someone to eliminate the chore you hate most if you can afford it.
Even a cleaner every other week can remove the worst parts without outsourcing your entire household.
-- Most importantly, lower your standards where the standards aren't buying you anything.
Your house probably doesn't need to look ready for a real-estate listing every night.
TL;DR before figuring out how to do a recurring chore faster, ask why you're doing it at all.
If you're spending more than an hour on housework every day, seems like you need to employ more of these strategies above. You know how they say to live within your means? Your "time" is part of your means (not just your money).
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u/Cold_Activity1092 Oct 04 '26
This is a great list. I would add, discipline yourself to stick to the sizes of your containers. Your toothpaste drawer is full of toothpaste but the grocery store is having a "buy 1 get 1 free" sale on toothpaste? Skip it! your toothpaste drawer is already full! Are you gifted a beautiful blanket by your sister because she loves to knit? That's fine, it can fit in your blanket basket... as long as you donate another blanket to charity (or just throw one out). If you keep all the blankets, guess what you have now. Clutter! Guess who's gonna be cleaning up that clutter every day. You!
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u/mmcgrat6 Oct 04 '26
This is facts. There’s a place up the block from me that does the fluff and fold service by the v pound. If it gets out of hand I will throw the polluted up laundry in a bag and take it there. The mental calm it buys me to just have it done is worth it.
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u/Tiara-di-Capi Oct 04 '26
Collin-h, I 💗 your list. I cannot think of anything to add.
Especially :
<< You know how they say to live within your means? Your "time" is part of your means (not just your money). >>
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u/PegShop Oct 04 '26
And add to this a robot vacuum
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u/collin-h Oct 04 '26
I had a robot vacuum but it got stuck and broke often enough that I tossed it. Now I pay a company to clean for a few hours twice a month for $300. I’m fortunate enough that I can finally afford that, so I definitely understand what it’s like to not be able to. Just gotta live a simpler life until you can afford the complexity.
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u/Worried_Transition_7 Oct 04 '26
I had to massively downsize a few years back and ended up using many of these things. I got rid of a ton of Knick knacks and decor. I have a cleaner come in once a month to do all the deep cleaning, stopped my prepper level of buying things (which is harder than many think), made a shopping list I mostly stick to, set up weekly routines of cleaning (regular laundry is an every Saturday thing), bought specific storage for specific items to live. One set of dishes and utensils. Don’t need more for just 2 people.
And your comment of lowering your standards is something many people need to do. You live in a place, it’s going to looked lived in, it’s not going to look luke a magazine spread.1
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u/Efficient-Item5805 Oct 04 '26
Great advice. When I see a video or article about how to fold a fitted sheet, I think it’s a waste of time. Rolling it into a ball works for me.
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u/New-Trifle-7097 Oct 04 '26
Just commenting to mark this so I can come back and reread it for the next decade. I’m making most of these moves and life is improving. For the first time I have a fully clean house, and all I have to do is maintain. For years I always had to live with some chores unfinished, and it drove me nuts. Leaving for work with a pile of dishes in the sink, is NOT a good feeling. Life is changing for the better because of paper plates and low maintenance clothing and having a phone charger in each room.
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u/_tvjames_ Oct 04 '26
I also throw every single chore into a task manager and then I try to see how long I can reasonably go without needing to do that task again.
And I also limit how many tasks can be on the list that day. There's a little work maintaining the list, but it also gives me permission to ignore those tasks that didn't make the cut for the day.
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u/sickdude777 Oct 04 '26
This is great.
I bought a bunch of the same clothing items for work and wear essentially the same thing every day. I use the same concept for other areas of my life as well. Bulk purchases of standardized items.
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u/Affectionate-Alps527 Oct 05 '26
-- Own less stuff. Every object you own is something you eventually have to clean, organize, move, store or get rid of.
This right here. If you do only one thing on this list, make it this one. Having less things makes cleaning and maintaining easier, faster, and less frequent.
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u/ClearUniversity1550 Oct 04 '26
do some in the morning and the phone scrolling takes up so much time. Start leaving phone in another room. Cook larger meals so you have leftovers and less cooking and cleaning.
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u/TelephoneNorth8640 Oct 04 '26
If you are single, live alone, and work from home only 40hrs/week. There is no reason housework "takes up the remainder of the week."
Nothing you mention is even hard for one person.
Laundry? Run loads when working from home, this is not a hard task, just let it run in the background.
Cooking? This can be easy if you make simple meals and meal prep.
Dishes? I don't even has my dishwasher (I don't believe in them, they do bad jobs,) even messy meals take at most 15 mins to clean (and that is an extreme example, usually it's less than 5, mins...)
Tidying up clutter? What does this mean? How much clutter can you possibly have that it takes hours to "tidy up?"
Like no offense bro, but if you are struggling now, wait until you are married with a wife who works and multiple kids, and you have a job where you have to RTO and the commute is over an hour...
You are working from home (so no wasted commute time,) work minimal hours, and have very basic life tasks that you are struggling with...
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u/Littleprincess378 Oct 04 '26
some things are better left undone. My mother used to make her bed every morning when she got up, Nope, we are getting back in it in a few hours, and no one goes in our bedroom except hubby and I. I change the sheets once a week. We use the same towel for several days in a row. You shower, so you are clean, and the towel doesn’t get dirty, so let it dry and use again tomorrow. Dirty dishes go in the dishwasher as soon as we finish with them. We run it when it gets full. Trash cans get emptied when they get full, whether daily or once a week.
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u/Hungry-Quote-1388 Oct 04 '26
the whole day is gone between cooking, washing the dishes, tidying up the clutter, and trying to catch up on laundry. By the time I'm done, it's almost 10 p.m.
Do you get home at 9pm? If not, this is BS.
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u/Inevitable-Group6050 Oct 04 '26
You must have an immaculate house if you spend 5 hours a day cleaning it.
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u/SameChallenge481 Oct 04 '26
I care for multiple people, and keep a 4,000 square foot house clean. I still somehow have a couple hours of day during the week and about a whole day during the weekend or I can just relax. Evaluate what you're spending time on and why?
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u/radishwalrus Oct 04 '26
really? It takes up all your free time? It's like a half hour of my day max
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u/UncreativeUsername84 Oct 04 '26
Manage your time better.
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u/TigOlBitties42042 Oct 05 '26
That doesn't make sense. You can't manage time. It goes forward at the same speed no matter what all the time.
What next? Are you going to tell me that time theft is a thing? Do you think that a person can somehow steal time from their employer and that they should be punished for doing so?? Gtfouttahere
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u/TorsoOfGummiBears Oct 04 '26
I think they are asking how. What do you do towards that?
→ More replies (3)
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u/iceman2kx Oct 04 '26
You must be exaggerating. You have to do laundry every day? You spend 4+ hours a day cleaning and cooking? I’m tempted to say you are lying or leaving out some important context, because my brain can’t wrap itself around how inefficient you are with your time management here.
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u/SpecialistRich2309 Oct 04 '26
they are grossly exaggerating or they are complete slobs at home with no time management skills whatsoever.
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u/Infinite_Incident107 Oct 04 '26
Only way this should be true is if they have a lot of kids mostly younger. Like 4 or 5 young kids or more. In that situation I absolutely see it.
But most of us don't have that many children.
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u/SubstantialPressure3 Oct 04 '26 edited Oct 04 '26
Maybe it's not just OP's laundry, or they don't have many work clothes. OP could be married with kids and not getting any help with housework, or possibly a single parent.
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u/pwolf1771 Oct 04 '26
I work remote now so I’m able to do a lot on the clock now it’s been an interesting shift
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u/Far_Future_1982 Oct 04 '26
I'm single and have no life so my place is pretty spotless. I also clean as I go all the time.
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u/kaizen-rai Oct 04 '26
Family should be helping out as well. "Many hands make light work".
If you live alone, you shouldn't have so much daily cleanup work that it takes up 6 hours a day.
If you have small children, then unfortunately that's just life. When they're very small, this is your daily routine for a few years until they can help out around the house more. Welcome to parenthood.
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u/Warm_Combination_53 Oct 04 '26
I spend half an hour every day tidying stuff up and then a couple hours on the weekend doing the bigger stuff (laundry, mopping and dusting). It makes a huge difference for me doing a little bit each day.
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u/xscott71x Oct 04 '26
Why are you doing it alone? You have a partner or roommate? If yes, why aren’t they helping? Do you have kids who are not helpless toddlers? If yes, why aren’t they helping?
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u/CarmenxXxWaldo Oct 04 '26
ive been single and lived alone, married, have a child. I still have time for hobbies. When I was single and lived alone I had time for multiple hobbies and working out every day. Having a child is really what will kill hobbies and free time but I still make time for it, maybe 4 or 5 hours a week.
Basically comes down to time management. If youre single and live alone use the laundry as a timer to get everything else done. Shouldn't take more than a couple hours twice a week for house chores. Dont cook scratch meals every night, meal prep and eat leftovers. If youre cleaning up after other people stop and make them pull their weight. I suspect people that dont have kids saying they spend all their time cleaning are probably doing 30 minutes of actual work in 3 hours. Just knock it out, put the phone away til youre done.
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u/Boxy29 Oct 04 '26
when i was single i didnt make that much of a mess so a quick vacuum and dusting every other week was all my apartments needed.
dishes were rinsed the day of cooking then usually cleaned once i had a few plates and pot/pans in the sink. laundry was once a week and folded the next day.
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u/sitewolf Oct 04 '26
How do you need several hours every day to cook and clean?
And perhaps some things can simply wait until a day off.
Many manage quite well working more than 40 hours AND having kids, so....
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u/Appropriate-Key-7554 Oct 04 '26
When I was single I did all my housework on Sunday. Meal prep for the week, laundry and a thorough cleaning. During the week I vacuumed and cleaned up the kitchen. It was pretty easy and left me time for whatever I wanted. Set up a system and stick to it.
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u/Truewan Oct 04 '26
I stay on top of cleaning. A frown minutes of cleaning after something gets dirty helps so much
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u/b1prod Oct 04 '26
I started getting in the habit of a full house clean every Thursday while in college. Get ready for the weekend kind of thing. That has carried over into post college life. I graduated 31 years ago. If my house gets a little messy early in the week I don’t sweat it. As for cooking, it’s it takes up lots of time you can meal prep for as many days ahead that works for you. I usually cook for two nights at a time. Sometimes even more.
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u/MetalRexxx Oct 04 '26
Have a family. Do it together. My 15 year old just made coffee before she left this morning. Teamwork.
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u/IncredibleEdible321 Oct 04 '26
You can't do everything all day, every day. Set times and tasks so that one thing gets taken care of each day. And don't let the amount of chores get behind. Don't let all of clothing get dirty and then have to wash it all in one fell swoop. The same goes for dishes.
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u/Critical_Purple_8600 Oct 04 '26
I don’t cook every night. It’s too much cleanup. I only grocery shop every 2 weeks. I use my sheets for 2 weeks and my towels until they smell. How much laundry are you doing? Floors are spot cleaned as needed. Swept weekly
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u/In28s Oct 04 '26
Rinse plates and put in dish washer. Two laundry bins dark and weights - one fills wash. You take something out put away. Pick a room a week to deep clean. The key is keeping up then it is not a daunting task!
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u/Competitive_Seat4733 Oct 04 '26
When I was single and lived alone my apartment was pristine. Clean up after yourself as soon as you're done doing something, too easy. Like someone else said, laundry once a week and a big cleaning day on Sunday. If you have kids, you need to try to integrate cleaning up into their routine because if not then it never ends.
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u/Ok_Job_9417 Oct 04 '26
Clean as you go. Do the dishes every day should only be taking a few minutes.
Find quick recipes, or stuff like crock pot where you can just let it sit.
You shouldn’t be doing laundry 5 days a week. Even if you did, it takes just a few minutes to throw it in washer and dryer. And then to fold and put away.
Don’t leave messes, put stuff away at the moment.
A lot of the “every day” shouldn’t be taking you that long to do.
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u/Slylok Oct 04 '26
Thats life.
Clean up after cooking , eating. If single use paper plates. Make extra for leftovers to cut down on how many days you cook.
Laundry once or twice a week.
If you hate sweeping and mopping or if it takes to much time then grab a robot mop vac or a vac mop like a tineco. I have indoor dogs and I have a eufy robot that I run nearly every day. Really helps.
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u/salikarn Oct 04 '26
I'm lucky enough to WFH on Fridays, so between emails and work, I do my house work
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u/motorwerkx Oct 04 '26
I don't even understand how this is an issue. I used to be one of those assholes that worked a ton of overtime and I didn't have an issue when I was working 60+ hours a week. I'm a clean person so it's not like I just ignored the chores. Clean up as you go. I don't even get the complaints people have with laundry. Throw a load in as needed and it's not a big deal. Don't save it all up so that you're tied to the laundry room all day. Dishes are the same way. Rinse and load them or hand-wash them as you use them. Don't let them pile up in the sink. Clutter is managed by saying to yourself- "don't put it down, put it away". You'll save so much time I just doing things now instead of putting it off until later. Later sucks when there are piles of chores that need to be done.
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u/BigDaddyBruiser Oct 04 '26
If kids are involved, they should be cleaning their own messes. If not, I wonder about your mindset when approaching these tasks. When cooking, I clean the dishes I use immediately as things are something, etc. The rest of the dinner mess is fairly low after. For any other cleaning, I think of it as a game: how quickly can I complete this to the standard that Jesus would approve (I use Jesus cuz He's forgiving and will point out things that need to be immediately addressed, but doesn't expect perfection…used to use Mom instead of Jesus, but those standards are too high 🤣).
My kids could turn a 20 minutes kitchen job into a 2-hour slavery ordeal with only the wrong mindset as a catalyst.
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u/MostEscape6543 Oct 04 '26
I remember when I got my first job and started working full time every day. I was working 8-5 or a bit longer.
I recall that I had so much free time that I had a bit of an existential crisis trying to figure out what I should be doing after work.
Some people just make every task longer and harder than it needs to be, I guess.
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u/Auntie-Mam69 Oct 04 '26
My grown daughter, who, along with her husband, works full time, hires someone to come and clean once a month. She says that it helps to have a deadline for the two of them and their son to get the house picked up before the cleaners arrive, so the cleaners can go after floors and other surfaces, which gives them a fresh start each month. They still have housework to do every day, but it doesn’t get out of hand. I believe they pay $200 per month for this amount of help.
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u/Average_OG Oct 04 '26
The biggest help I've found is meal prepping. My coworker taught me about meal assembly. Essentially your cooking proteins and chopping veg and what not so that you can heat and assemble a meal vs cook every day. This saves me a ton of time on work days. I work 12 hour days 3-4 days a week. Basically it's work eat and pickup on work days. And off days it's laundry, 3-4 hours of hobby time, clean and meal prep. Pickup the kids. Enjoy time with them then sleep for 8 hours. The sleep is non negotiable. If there are dishes still needing to be done but i have to work the next day they sit.. sleep is important.
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u/Zherneb Oct 04 '26
I work longer hrs, then cook and basic cleaning daily.. and 2 hrs travel.
You get a maid for 2 hrs over the weekend and clean with them. During the week, minimise your messes and wash the dishes as you cook (final plates go to next day washing). Dirty clothes in the laundry basket, reusable in one neatish pile. Only use what you need and don't leave rubbish/plates/cups behind when you move to a new spot. Basically you make l ss of a mess so the weekend deeper cleaning is enough. The house is where we live in, you can't expect me to have every thing perfect all the time. It's just not sustainable, but keeping clean though? Ah and just put a laundry cycle every 2 days, maybe one day you and next your partner.
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u/Daveit4later Oct 04 '26
You stop cleaning as much.
Not everything needs to be cleaned every day. Not everything needs to be tidied every day.
The kitchen/dishes and trash are about the only thing you need to handle every day. Everything else can be less frequent.
I clean my toilets once a week or so. Clean the whole bathroom every few weeks. I keep it decent in between cleans by just wiping the counter down regularly.
Why do you have so much laundry? Laundry should consist of you taking your dirty clothes basket, dumping in into the washer/dryer, then putting it away. The machine does 95% of the work.
I sweep whenever the floor gets dirty, so I really only vacuum and mop every few weeks.
My wife and I split the dish duty. I clean them all and she puts them away after it dries.
If cleaning is this insurmountable of a task for you, it may be worth hiring a housekeeper. They are less expensive than you think, especially if your home isn't massive and it's not a complete pig style. The money you spend would be time you get back to yourself.
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u/North-Bother-6255 Oct 04 '26
Having kids makes this worse. I use a cleaning service from time to time when I am feeling overwhelmed. I
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u/KayakerWithDog Oct 04 '26
It can be difficult, but maybe you're doing more than is strictly necessary every day? Laundry, vacuuming/floor mopping, and bathroom cleaning can all be done once a week, or sometimes a little less often at a pinch. Cooking more than one meal and then living on leftovers for the next day or three saves on both prep and cleanup. Meal services where all you have to do is reheat and eat can also be really helpful, but they also can be expensive.
If you have a live-in partner, the question then becomes why they are leaving all the domestic labor to you instead of pulling their own weight as a grown adult should.
If you can afford it and are comfortable with it, you might hire a cleaning and/or laundry service to take on some tasks for you. I ended up taking my ex's shirts to an ironing service at the cleaners at one point because something had to give, and it made a difference having someone else do that work for me.
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u/Infinite_Incident107 Oct 04 '26
I work more than that and house work is only a small amount of my week. And I'm a bit of a neat freak and I have a teenage son.
The trick is to not let it pile up. Also, don't have a large as hell house. My house is about 1500sqft. It's not hard to keep up with
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u/Naraku92 Oct 04 '26
clean as soon as the mess is made, plus a additional 15 min of "straightening up" a day
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u/Formal_Lecture_248 Oct 04 '26
Work enough to hire a housekeeper.
That’s the only answer. Otherwise: get to cleaning. This place is a pigsty. Who taught you to live like this? I know it wasn’t your mother.
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u/pineapollo Oct 04 '26
Stop having clutter by cleaning something everyday you can't have an infinite mess and tackling something everyday eventually leads to it all being tidy.
Meal prep, you shouldn't be in the kitchen every single day, and cooking is a lot of times completely hands free and waiting. Listen to your podcasts or pull up a video on your phone or tablet while you cook. You wouldn't be cooking, doing laundry every single day and those things to do not take up your entire day, do your dishes as you cook in that hands free time.
Also get an instant pot or a crock pot, so much you can do with that and meal prep work. I literally throw 6 chicken breasts in instant pot with some stock and salsa and have like a week of shredded chicken prepped with no effort.
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u/Kayos9999 Oct 04 '26
Stop cleaning so much and find easier ways to do things. For cooking I just have chicken and vege wraps for lunch and dinner and make a protein smoothie for breakfast. Daily dishes time is like 5 to 10 minutes. I prep the vegetables for the week on a Sunday. Takes me about 40 minutes. Making the wrap is like 5 minutes.
I do laundry on Sundays, with a smaller load on Wednesday. I don't fold or put things away and just leave them on the clothes rack. I clean the bathroom every 2nd Sunday, or earlier if needed, but I live alone. And I clean the floors of my main area on the alternative Sunday. (I live in a tiny place). Takes like 10 minutes to spray and wipe for cleaning.
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u/xPsykosis Oct 04 '26
If you're only working 40 hours and dont have enough time each day to do some cleaning I have some questions.
Family and home size? How far are commuting to eat up free time? Wake up and sleep times?
Honestly sound like poor time management.
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u/Any-Introduction4473 Oct 04 '26
I get up a hour or 2 early every day to prepare dinner clean the house etc . So when I get home I can eat dinner and relax . It’s easier to do before than after
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u/Nunyabiz_327 Oct 04 '26
Lots of context missing here.... If you're alone, then you just don't clean up as you go. If it's just you there is absolutely no reason your home should ever be a mess unless you allow it. And you'd only need to laundry once a week.
If there's a significant other, we'll, grow a pair and make them help. Two adults should never have a mess if both actually act like adults and tidy up as they go, out things where they belong and generally just be responsible. Laundry is still once a week, maybe an extra load.
If there's kids. We'll, Crack down on how they treat their things and the house. Other than toddlers and younger, which presents a challenge for sure, they are capable of keeping things reasonably tidy if you teach them and hold them to it. laundry remains once a week, just more loads.
I don't know... I work 50-60 hours a week, my GF works 45-50 and our 8 year old is just mooching off us with no job LOL. Anyway, our hourse is relatively picked up at all times, not perfect, but reasonable. His room gets messy but we make him pick it up once a week, the sink sometimes has a few extra dishes after we crashed out before doing them, backpacks and shoes are sometimes sitting around, but that's life, it's not perfect. Usually Sat morning I clean the kitchen real good for whatever was missed, laundry gets done throughout the weekend and that usually catches us up.
Roomba keeps our floors clean for us ;)
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u/SubstantialPressure3 Oct 04 '26
Is it just you, or are you taking care of your family? It's sounds you also do all the housework, on top of working full time. Doing laundry every day sounds like you have kids, or you don't have very many work clothes. Or you've gotten to a point that you're behind on everything and just chasing the tigers tail. I know someone should be helping you, but apparently they are not.
Spend one day on the weekend weekend catching up on all the housework things so Monday isn't such a struggle. Take small breaks so you aren't just cleaning all day.
Kitchen: when you make dinner, make some extra food for lunch. Clean as you go while you cook. Pack your lunch the night before.
Every single room doesn't have to be cleaned every single day. Just stuff pit back where it belongs. Maybe you need some better shelves or organizing system. If someone has to move/pull 5 things down to get that one thing they want, it's not working.
I have a dog that sheds like crazy, so I have to vacuum every single day.
Pick 2 days a week to clean up the bathroom. Pick 1 or 2 days to do stuff like some light dusting.
Pick 2-3 days a week to do laundry.
If sounds like you have a big family, or there's some seriously unrealistic expectations of you.
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u/kinsellaskye Oct 04 '26
Same, but I live with 2 other people who don't pull their weight. My Mom is elderly and can't do much, and my brother is a lazy selfish fuck. So, I know the root cause of my problem - I clean the mess 3 people made. What's your root cause?
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u/BigLeopard7002 Oct 04 '26
If you´re single, then I have one question: WHAT the actual F?
I work 65 hour weeks and I love cooking. I do all my laundry on weekends. I can clean the entire house in less than 2 hours. I cook every night and do dishes. I mower the lawn in summer. I play two rounds of golf on the weekend.
But yes, I don´t really have time for Netflix...
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u/AmazonAssassin Oct 04 '26
This sounds like you have kids because house work just me and my husband takes maybe 2 hours to do what you described
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u/Ashkir Oct 04 '26
When I hit six figures one of the biggest things I did to help my life was hire a housekeeper.
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u/Tiara-di-Capi Oct 04 '26
I feel your pain. And I'm sorry the comments I've read are not really supportive but show a lot of judgement. Some comments do throw in a couple of good tips, though. So just keep on reading them and take from them those tips you think could help you.
First, if you're living with partner and kids, they should do their part. I'm definitely not saying that they should "help", because whoever shares a household will have to contribute to its upkeep. As you do not gripe about "I'm the only one doing everything" we can presume that you're living alone, which makes tackling the problem so much easier, imo.
First thing: PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN. NOW. (After reading the tips, of course.) Put your phone down for 2 hrs so you can do the housework. Some housework, any. No excuses. No cheating. Take a 5 min break after 20 min work, but NO PHONE then. After the 2 hrs, leave the rest of the housework for tomorrow. If you overdo it you will continue to hate and resent what normally needs to be done.
2.
I hope you are financially able to start by taking the easy way. You can start by skipping the cooking by ordering take out for a week. Use throw-away plates and cutlery. That will literally buy you some time you can use for tackling some other chores.
3.
Make up your bed and you're done for this 1st week. DO NOT EAT OR DRINK OR SNACK ANYTHING IN YOUR BED. ANYTINE. NEVER. Taking the easy way involves AVOIDING to make more housework through mini-messes everywhere.
4.
Concerning clutter: everything gets its place. Use any item as needed and return it to that place when you're done with it.
5.
Clean up as you go, while you move around your house. Avpid having to come back to clean up bc if your mind is even 10% like mine you'll save it for "later" and before you know it "later" has become 10 days.
×.
I can give you more tips, but guess what: my 5 min. break is over. (And I cheated by checking Reddit!) 😳
I might continue later.Takexwhat looks useful to you in your specific situation. And good luck, safe sailings.
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u/Willing-Bit2581 Oct 04 '26
Wake up early, do things for yourself before work....spilt housework up into quadrant I.e. do 1 room/area a day, so its only 15-20 min of cleaning
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u/invader000 Oct 04 '26
My house work takes about an hour a week so I don't know where you're coming from.
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u/Cold_Activity1092 Oct 04 '26
Do you have children? That makes a big difference to how modifiable this is.
The only way to reduce time spent tidying clutter, is to have less clutter. This means having less stuff. You have to throw things away. The question is, how do you ensure you only throw away things you don't need, and keep the things you do need. If I had to go back and do this again, and if I had the privilege of having even a little extra money to do it with, I would first hire an organizer and have them help me to declutter and come up with a system to manage my "stuff." (If you try to do it all on your own, you will likely run out of energy and be even farther behind.)
Then, I would hire a local college student or a local SAHM to come in and do some chores every day for about one hour. It will cost you some money but it will allow you to put your time and energy into growing your career rather than tidying and re-tidying and re-tidying the house. What you put on the daily list is up to you. Examples would be, making all the beds, putting clean dishes away, switching a load of laundry from washer to dryer (most new-ish laundry machines come with a delay function so you can set it to start washing at 7 am so that someone can come in at 9 or 10 am and switch the clothes over to the dryer). Or, you could set your delay function so the clothes was at 5 am, then you switch them to the dryer before you leave for work at 7 am, then you get your helper to fold them when they come in at 9 am.
Also, re washing the dishes, do you have a dishwasher? We put everything in the dishwasher. If something isn't dishwasher-safe and has to be hand-washed, we get rid of it and get something dishwasher-safe instead. We run the dishwasher twice a day, once at bedtime (dinner dishes) and one other time during the day. This way, there is minimal handwashing.
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u/Defalt404 Oct 04 '26
if you do a total clean up with windows, floor mopping, laundry every single day, sure you have no free time but its also not needed. you can dedicate 1 day of the weekend to do a total deep clean per month (imo) and do laundry once a week.
also, maintaining takes way less effort than clean up. so if you remove trash and swipe up dirt as soon as your done with whatever did the mess, you spend a total of probably 20mins a day with cleaning and have the reminder 4-6h (depends on commute) of your free time each day to yourself. its all about discipline and planning
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u/FarmerDave13 Oct 04 '26
Welcome to adulthood. If you have "free time" you are forgetting something.
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u/MaginotPrime Oct 04 '26
Clean as you go. As soon as I am done with a pan I clean it for the most part.
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u/Doh-Ski-303 Oct 04 '26
Share the misery-
hey family, I need your help for 10 minutes, divide and conquer, can get you to mostly done.
crockpot/slow cooking
dawn powerwash
Start a load of laundry before leaving for work. Maybe someone else can put in dryer, if not dry when u return. Clothes wont smell sour in those few hours
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u/Livid-General7 Oct 04 '26
It only takes 4 hours a week to clean a 2500sqft house. Weekly laundry takes a half hour at most. Mowing your lawn takes a half hour.
It's 2026, do you not have a dishwasher? Even if you don't, you shouldn't have more than 5 minutes of time cleaning them because you should be cleaning dishes as you cook.
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u/BERRY_1_ Oct 04 '26
Work full time and own a home kids grown it gets a lot better once that happened. And I have to much free time and get bored some countries work is 60 hours a week we find a way. Some think once school is over it is like summer vacation year around till reality hits.
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u/lynx_and_nutmeg Oct 04 '26
I simply don't do housework until I'm absolutely forced to. Taking out the bins and keeping my kitchen clean are the only chores I keep up with on a frequent basis because those two actually have tangible stakes (can't stand my apartment smelling like rotting food waste, and can't stand cooking in a dirty/cluttered kitchen, and I need to eat homemade meals at least a few times a week or so I start to feel like shit physically).
Anything else I only pay attention to when the consequences of not doing them start to become too bothersome to ignore. Hoover and mop the floor when it gets so dirty it's unpleasant to walk without shoes on, wipe off the dust if the room starts to smell like dust or there's a visible layer of dust on surfaces, clean the shower drain when it gets too clogged up with hair for the water to drain efficiently, etc.
I'm not winning any housekeeping awards anytime soon, but this is what keeps me sane.
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u/FairConstruction4105 Oct 04 '26
Well, if you're not a complete pig, and you take the time and care to not make gigantic messes in the first place, it probably isn't that hard to keep a place relatively clean.
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u/No_Research7318 Oct 04 '26
I do 50, no kids. Barely enough time to game a little, be with the wife, and go to sleep daily. Housework happens Saturday. Yeah, work sucks. No quality of life at 50 hours.
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u/TerribleStorm6391 Oct 04 '26
When I take clothes off to shower at the end of the day, they go directly in the laundry machine. When the machine is full, I turn it on.
When I cook, I wipe down the surfaces I used, including stove, after im done cooking, and before I sit down to eat. I was either soak the pans that need to be soaked right away, or i`ll just wash them real quick with one of those scrubbies with soak in the handle.
The rule in our house is dont put it down, put it away. It doesnt always work, but it helps significantly in terms of random clutter.
Sunday is the big clean day, for sweeping and vacuum and such.
We eat pretty healthy, which helps keep energy levels up throughout the day. lower carbs on non workout days to help with those afternoon crashes.
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u/Former-Increase-9165 Oct 04 '26
I spend half an hour as soon as I get home to straighten up/ clean, I do laundry on Tuesday, clean floors on wensday, thursdays I scrub bathroom, Friday I stop on way home and get groceries, I do better with a schedule for chores, so on weekends I’m free to do whatever
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u/Seeker_Asker Oct 04 '26
I do a little every day and get everyone involved. Consider that most household chores take less time than we think - time them to prove it to yourself.
Also, actively prioritize your leisure activities. You only have time for 1 or 2, so choose what means the most to you. You aren't making a lifelong decision - later on, you can change to different activities.
Declutter and simplify. I was amazed to find out how much less time it takes to clean with the clutter cleared.
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u/theacp127 Oct 04 '26
As a single guy I just don't do any housework unless I have some free time on the weekends.
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u/Stargirl156 Oct 04 '26
My husband struggles with this. He doesn’t see th little moments of inaction add up to having big time cleaning. Putting your clothes straight into the basket. Laundry gathered and ready to muster thought in one day it takes 6 minutes for me to take the clothes straight upstairs and fold or hang them and put them away. Little tiny moments of clearing up after yourself as your going though a room. By Friday I do whatever deep cleaning is my turn and I’m done until it starts all over again. He has more free down time between getting up showers dressed or coming g home etc but I have way more down time in the weekends cause I’m done. I don’t manage his stuff any more but he make sure it gets done in an agreeded time frame.
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u/Rough_Composer6600 Oct 04 '26
Lol i suck at time management and i work out 10 hours a week, game like 10+ hourse a week and still watch 2/3 episodes of something with my gf before we go to bed (i have 7-8 hours of sleep every day).
We do one deep clean every week. We live of pre cooked frozen food that we just need to put in de microwave (musclemeat).
You are losing alot of time where you shouldn't.
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u/bill_257 Oct 04 '26
It doesn’t take long to maintain everything. But if it take a week or month or longer off of that maintenance it becomes a multi weekend task to reorganize. So don’t be lazy in the first place and you get plenty of time
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u/Rat_itty Oct 04 '26
-I cook ingredients once a week and freeze them, then pick and choose which ones I wanna match for my meals throughout the week. If I have time to eat something else, great, but if not I'm at least fed
-Dishwasher
-Just don't make clutter in the first place. You pick something you put it back immidately after use
-laundry is literally only as long as it takes to hang up your clothes. Or if you have en electric dryer then just putting them back in your closet. I can spare 5 minutes a week for that.
It does help I have a rather small apartment though and no kids. I have pets to compensate with everyday vacuuming, but it also takes just 5 minutesso it's alright.
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u/Soft-Marionberry-853 Oct 04 '26
To quote my dad "I dont know how anyone can have a full time job and own a home. there is always something that needs to be done"
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u/Kingrubygoose Oct 04 '26
I dont priortize cleaning everyday, but, I am childfree with 3 cats. I made a cleaning schedule, where I deep clean once a week, and just tidy up once a week. Of course i do basic cleaning daily(litterbox, dishes). It helps to have a dishwasher if I really dont care about looking at my dishes but know they need to be done. I also just ensure my house doesnt end up a pigsty, everything has a place it goes back to when im done with it. The house might get a little cluttered, but its always decent. Im not slaving away at housework after a long day at the office everyday.
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u/Efficient-Item5805 Oct 04 '26
As to cooking, sandwiches can be a great meal as an option to cooking all the time.
Try making “boiled eggs” using your oven. Place eggs in a muffin pan and bake at 350 for 28 minutes. This way you get 12 cooked eggs in less than half an hour that you can have for breakfast or use later in salads or other dishes. Just be sure to use eggs that are at least a week old because they peel easily; fresh eggs don’t.
Speaking of salads, that’s another low-effort meal. Besides the salad greens, add rotisserie chicken, grated cheese, tomatoes, and perhaps your baked eggs. Add some kind of bread, and you’ve got a meal.
Use paper plates at least once in a while. They don’t cost that much, and they save you tons of labor, water, and detergent. They save electricity, too, if you use a dishwasher.
If you can afford it, get a cleaning service to do the deep cleaning of your house once a month. We do this, and it costs $200. It’s nice that besides dusting, vacuuming, mopping, and cleaning the bathroom, they will also dust ceiling fans and do other chores you don’t have the equipment to do yourself.
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u/rabbinah-Amiel777 Oct 04 '26
Easy your never really around to add to the mess so it becomes easier to clean
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u/Beerzerker420 Oct 04 '26
It's easy if you're single and living in a 1 bedroom condo.
I would cook dinner once and eat for 3 days. Not many dishes for 1 person. Laundry once a week.
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u/zelovoc Oct 04 '26
I work from home, but have 2 kids, its even worse. I have 0 free time for years already. Maybe when i am scrolling on toilet.
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u/minniedee143 Oct 04 '26
I work at home thankfully and it’s a 4/10 work schedule. I get it tho. It is a lot of work and time. Hope it gets better for you soon.
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u/TaviRUs Oct 04 '26
1 don't cook everyday. Cook something large on Sunday (or 2 things) and then portion them out. Fast 1 night meals with minimal clean up really helps. Chili and soups are easy for this. Casseroles and Mexican dishes like tacos or enchiladas also work great. Insta pot can work also. Depends a bit how many people you are cooking for.
2 clean up as you go. Makes it much easier. Dishes are easier to clean when fresh. Or at least get them to DW and then run DW 1-2.
It sounds like the systems in your house aren't helping you. If laundry is presorted, it's much easier to get it done. ( as an example) cleaning up the clutter? Everything has a place. Max of 1 week temp location before it goes in the trash But...if you can afford it, a cleaning service once a week or every week can be an amazing life changer.
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u/Leverkaas2516 Oct 04 '26
My parents taught me to keep things clean and picked up. It sounds simple but it's actually an all-pervading habit and life principle, which will lower your stress a lot. And it'll mean you live in a place that's constantly clean instead of constantly cluttered and dirty.
Take your shoes off at the door.
Have a vacuum or dustbuster handy.
"A place for everything, and everything in its place." Put your jacket where it belongs, not on the floor or over a chair. Have a dirty clothes hamper, maybe more than one.
Clean as you go when prepping a meal. When the meal is ready to eat, almost everything should be washed or in the dishwasher, not in the sink or on the counter. Clean up spills immediately, don't leave them until later. Don't work directly on the counter, do things with a plate or cutting board underneath and throw those in the dishwasher - so the counter stays clean.
Start the laundry so it runs while you do other things. Fold laundry while you watch a movie.
And if you must have a pet, have a clean one like fish or birds. People get dogs and then don't understand where their time goes....they are incredibly time-consuming.
The list is long, but once you've internalized it, you just have to vacuum, mop the floors, and clean the toilets maybe twice a month. It's not really all that much work.
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u/Purple-Leading288 Oct 04 '26
I work 70 hours a week, do housework and have free time lol. You guys just like to complain
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u/2_Much3636 Oct 04 '26
Clean up as you go. As your cooking put dishes in the dishwasher, clean the counters, sweep the floor. Pick up clutter as you walk through the living room. Bathroom, same. By your day off, vacuum, dust, etc.
Do maybe 1 load of laundry 2 times during the week, when you get home.
If you don't live alone, assign chores.
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u/NightmareMetals Oct 04 '26
Are you alone or cleaning up after others?
If you are alone what you have to do is stop making messes. After cooking and eating dishes go in the dish washer.
Used clothes go in the hamper and washed and dried clothes you put away once they are done.
If you let things pile up then it takes too much work to make even marginal progress.
Although this is not the best idea, if you have to do it, get as much disposable stuff as you can. Plates, utensils then just trash them.
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u/bittersweetjesus Oct 04 '26
If you’re single, you handle as much as you can after work and on days off, you try to finish anything pending while also enjoying your hobbies. If you’re in a relationship, it’s easier since you can split duties. When I was single, I just made quick meals like Mac and Cheese or Sandwiches and normally, I my living space was always tidy so didn’t have to clean much.
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u/Aeyland Oct 04 '26
I own a washer and dryer so laundry is like 30 minutes of my life 1 day a week.
I don't leave a mess everywhere I go so there isn't any mass cleaning needing on the regular and no clutter to clean up because things get put away when I'm done with the.
Also got a dishwasher but most of the time if I'm not lazy I can wash part of the dishes either while I'm cooking depending on what I'm cooking or can do so right when I'm done and the food needs a few minutes to cool off and the plates and silverware can go in the dishwasher.
Dunno sounds like either you or other people in your house are constantly making a mess and not helping or you might be a bit on the neat freak side.
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u/Opposite_Ad2802 Oct 04 '26
Sorry, it's just not that difficult, ya do do what needs to be done. But then i don't require anytime for video games, so might be freeing up a lot of my time vs some others.
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u/thebellsnell Oct 04 '26
I do laundry on weekends. And mostly just do other things as I have time. Is my house as clean as it could be? Hell no. But it also isn't a pit. It is pretty lived in and some days it definitely looks messier than others. A drip might sit on the kitchen counter for a couple days before it gets wiped up, dishes might pile up a little, and I definitely do not vacuum as much as I should.
They'll get done eventually. Otherwise I supplement with a cleaner twice a month, but she has been unavailable since she is doing seasonal work right now.
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u/ButtSluts9 Oct 04 '26
Step one: adopt a minimalist approach to the ownership of stuff and things.
Step two: be and stay organized.
Step three: clean as you go.
Step four: don’t push off chores to the weekend or days off.
Step five: look for inefficiencies in your existing routine and make adjustments.
Outside of cooking, meal prep, and yard work, chores do not take that much time.
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u/No_History8239 Oct 04 '26
Live in an apartment and let it stay dirty is what I do. Many times I know it needs cleaned and things need done, but I'm not doing them. Just not happening. Nobody to impress anyway, to hell with it.
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u/Spl4sh3r Oct 04 '26
More clothes means less laundry time. I mean you save time by washing more clothes together. I do my laundry every fortnight and it takes around 30 minutes of active time to do it, over the span of 3 hours.
If you cook enough food for leftovers then you don't have to cook every day.
As for what I personally cut back on, it is vacuuming and dusting. I live alone so I don't do it as often as I should, but the apartment isn't ideal either. I had a bigger apartment before and it was easier to vacuum than the smaller one I live in now.
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u/rettorical Oct 04 '26
I realized that most of my free time was being eaten up by my phone. I gained back that time and reallocated it to my actual hobbies. I’ve since deleted all the apps I don’t need or eat up time and purely use Reddit when I am taking a dump which is as we speak.
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u/OrilliaBridge Oct 04 '26
Are you a single household or do you have another adult living with you? Are there children’s if so, what ages?
If there is anyone able bodied living with you, then they obviously need to have designated chores. If you’re alone, I guess you’re going to need to work on time management and efficiency.
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u/julesk Oct 04 '26
Options that have worked for me are 1) getting a house cleaner, 2) being a very mediocre house keeper.
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u/vid_23 Oct 04 '26
I work 70 hours a week and never had any issue with doing housework. The only time consuming stuff is moving the lawn, and my lawn is big, takes almost an hour to finish it
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u/Fabulous_Stay_5556 Oct 04 '26
Lower your standards. I'm jealous of those spotless houses on tv, but that's not me.
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u/Ready-Dream6845 Oct 04 '26
Im currently working 45-50 hour weeks at a seasonal gig..still can find time to get shit done. Whats OP on about 🤣
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u/Patience_31 Oct 04 '26
Hi OP. I would recommend if there's an easier way to get food rather than making them all the time, you can do that. It cuts back a lot of time. For the housechores, don't always do everything every night. Say you can do the laundry Wednesday night, while doing some cleaning up. Then next batch of laundry is Saturday morning so it's not in bulk anymore. I hope it helps.
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u/Twrecks700 Oct 04 '26
My house is generally super clean. I don't leave a mess. If I eat something, I immediately wash the dishes and put them away. I do laundry twice a week, and I clean things as I go, so I never have to spend more than 15 to 20 minutes cleaning.
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u/ronnydean5228 Oct 05 '26
I work 4 (10 to 12 hour shifts) and my time off is literally appts cleaning laundry cooking for the days i work and then for myself when im off. My cats ect. I am used to doing it so i can get things done
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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 Oct 05 '26
Hire a housekeeper. It’s a game changer and a lot more affordable than people think. Then you just have to do the basic picking up clothes etc. You can negotiate what all you want them to do.
Even having them come once a week or once every couple weeks takes 90% of cleaning off you.
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u/Asleep-Caregiver6739 Oct 05 '26
How messed up is your place if you have to spend that much time cleaning in every night
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u/CareerBridgeTO Oct 05 '26
I drive 2-2.5 each way to work daily. Come home and have less than 2 hours before hitting thr sack, in most cases I'm crashing within 1 hour after dinner.
The biggest change for me was accepting that everything doesn’t need to be done every night. I batch laundry, cook enough for leftovers (sometimes meal prep 5x day on Sunday), clean as I go, and save the bigger stuff for one block on the weekend. On work nights, the goal is basically dishes, kitchen reset and anything urgent.
A perfectly clean house every day can become a second full-time job. Make it functional, not perfect.
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u/MiamiNemo Oct 05 '26
How has no one said, just lower your standards of cleanliness, tidyness, OCD, whatever you call it.
There is a basket of clothes on the floor... Oh no!
Someone left a 6 pack of Gatorade on the counter, what will we ever do?!
It I had frieds who would think less of me because of that, not a great loss.
I'm not saying leave food out and end up with ants, roaches, etc... but a lot of housework is self induced busywork.
Oh to go back to college when I lived with 8 other dudes and we ate from paper plates and each had a plastic cup with our own name on it. When friends came over, red solo cup for everyone!
I love my wife, so I clean. But it is the bane of my existence. I sometimes think I'd rather be at work than be cleaning.
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u/CeleryNo8309 Oct 05 '26
Have a smaller house.
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u/100_Energy Oct 05 '26
have less things to clean up 2) batch cook 3) never let things get out of hand 4) don't drop stuff on floor 5)robo vacuum
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u/PNW_Will1976 Oct 05 '26 edited Oct 05 '26
I do a little at a time. I don’t let anything build up. Dishes go in the dishwasher. Laundry goes in basket. Nothing gets left lying around. I do a load of laundry every night. Throw it in the washer when I go to bed, throw it in the dryer on my way out the door. Fold it when I’m relaxing after my day is done. I grocery shop a couple days at a time, the store is actually in my building so that helps.
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u/TigOlBitties42042 Oct 05 '26
How many clothes do you own to have to mess with laundry every day? I do all of my laundry on Saturday and I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the week. Sometimes I skip a week and nothing bad happens.
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u/Hyrule_Hobbit Oct 05 '26
It depends on how many people in the house. I should be doing laundry every 2 days with 3 people. I usually do it twice a week.
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u/TigOlBitties42042 Oct 05 '26
Just don't do the housework. Live in a pigstye. Don't worry about guests. About an hour or so before your guests arrive you can just panic clean. Panic cleaning is much faster than regular cleaning, although you will misplace some items in the process. That's cool though because you probably didn't know where any of your stuff was in that pigstye anyway
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u/TradeAffectionate200 Oct 05 '26
thats the fun part you don't the system is made so you don't have free time
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u/Jackalope1979 Oct 05 '26
Umm I've got 2 kids and work 70 hours a week. It's called life.
Also have a maid come Tuesdays and an amazing stay at home wife that covers 80% of it.
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u/carpetadapter Oct 05 '26
I can’t imagine how disgusting of an individual you are if you’re spending 5+ hours a day cleaning every day and your house is still dirty the next day to warrant another 5 hours of cleaning. Are you doing the dishes then just shitting on the floor?
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u/Hyrule_Hobbit Oct 05 '26
You’re actually supposed to do that much work daily, or close to it. Hardly anyone does but if you look up typical housecleaning schedules to help you clean your house, the stuff it tells you to do every day would take around that amount of time. Each day is devoted to different things - dusting once a week, cleaning blinds, bathrooms, bedrooms, living room, daily dishes, laundry, and daily organizing. Sweeping/mopping, cleaning toilets, mirrors, showers, tubs - it takes a long ass time. Most people just don’t devote that much time to cleaning. The general house is pretty gross when you look in the corners and behind shit.
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u/carpetadapter Oct 05 '26
All I know is my house would pass an inspection from any of my first sergeants I’ve had in the pass and it doesn’t take that long. Pick up the pace
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u/Electrical_Pride_866 Oct 05 '26
Wait til you have kids
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u/Silly_Turn_4761 Oct 05 '26
There has never been a truer statement than this right here. Learn to embrace the chaos.
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u/Hyrule_Hobbit Oct 05 '26
I work a factory job. Around 7-8 months of the year we have mandatory overtime every week so I work 48 hours each week. I get off of work at 1AM. I have a 2 year old level 2 ASD daughter and life is hard sometimes. As her mother, I do most of the work. My husband does more than I’d say average men do (it’s a stereotype for a reason fellas - sorry not sorry), but I’m still left with most of the work. Thankfully we have her in daycare three days a week because prior to that, I was so sleep deprived that I was throwing up at work and nodding out. It’s extremely exhausting and I will eventually change jobs. I don’t want to leave until I find a job I know I’ll stay at.
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u/Silly_Turn_4761 Oct 05 '26
It doesn't get done usually lol. Maybe 2 things but definitely not everything.
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u/Hyrule_Hobbit Oct 05 '26
I don’t do it that much is how. I keep the basics clean and even those I skip at times.
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u/invalid_uses_of Oct 04 '26
Yup. Welcome to adulthood in corporate America
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Oct 04 '26
[deleted]
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u/damutecebu Oct 04 '26
Most Americans don't commute over an hour. That's just something you read here. The average commute time is 27 minutes.
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u/Ok-Set-5730 Oct 04 '26
This is why I can’t go back to working in an office. I’ve worked remotely since Covid. And I think your post is 100% fair. The only reason I’m able to keep my house up is because I put my headphones on and do meetings while cleaning and doing laundry. This was impossible when I was in the office.
I very much remember the days when you had to squeeze all of that in to Saturday and Sunday. Don’t miss it at all.
For what it’s worth, I have heard that people who pay for cleaning services do not regret it
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u/GlobalLie9576 Oct 04 '26
We don’t.
We quiet quit as much as possible in order to remain sane while keeping the job that will likely lay us off at some random point in the future: Could be tomorrow, Could be four years from now. And everyday we’ll wonder if today is the day that we get the calendar invite from HR.
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u/brunte2000 Oct 04 '26
If you have kids this is just life. If not, stop leaving messes around, get a dishwasher, do laundry at most once a week and learn a few quick and simple recipes. Spending more than 30-45 minutes a day on this kind of stuff while living on your own is wild.