Does anyone actually enjoy doing household chores? Maybe a select few. But most people can agree that doing chores isn’t the best way to spend the day. Nonetheless, they need to be done. Clothes need to be washed. Floors need to be swept. Meals need to be prepped.
Doing chores might be more exciting if you do it with someone. You have someone to suffer doing chores with. You can also keep each other accountable.
If you live alone though, that’s a whole different story. It’s not that easy to pull yourself up and do everything on your own. But there are some tricks you can do to motivate yourself and make doing chores a fun experience.
Create a To-do List
You can also use a to-do list to motivate yourself in finishing all your tasks. First, write down all your chores. Consider writing them in the order that you want to do them. This way, the list will also serve as your guide. If you finish one task, you just need to look at the list to determine which one you need to do next.
Cross out each task from the list when you finish them. The mere act of crossing out items in your list can be motivating since you can see your progress. This will trick your brain to maintain the momentum and keep going.
Batch Your Tasks
More often than not, the chores you need to do in a day are spread out around your house or apartment. And you might find that doing chores in different areas of your residence can be tiring because of all the back and forth involved.
Thus, one trick to motivate yourself to do chores is to do them in batches. You can do all the tasks in one area first before you move on to the next area. For example, if your laundry area is located in your bathroom, then you can batch together bathroom, washing machine, and dryer vent cleaning. Or you can do meal prep and washing the dishes next to each other since both are done in the kitchen.
Play Your Favorite Songs
To lift your mood while you do chores, you can play some of your favorite songs. Aside from keeping you entertained, listening to music can also boost your productivity. One study found that factory workers performed better when doing repetitive tasks while listening to upbeat songs.
Wear an OOTD-worthy Outfit
Usually, people wear the most comfortable clothes while doing chores. In particular, they wear shirts that are already slightly torn or faded. This makes sense since clothes can get filthy while doing chores.
If you do the same and find yourself unmotivated to do your chores, consider wearing a nice set of cleaning clothes. This might give you the extra push you need to get things done.
What you wear doesn’t have to be fancy. For example, you can simply put on a nice apron on top of your clothes and wear matching gloves. You can also wear a stylish headband. It won’t just add style to your outfit but also keep your hair away from your face while cleaning.
Gamify the Experience
Playing a game with yourself might sound silly. But it can work. To some extent, gamification is a great motivating tool, so you can take advantage of that when you do your chores.
If you have your playlist on while doing chores, you might consider challenging yourself to finish a certain task before the playlist ends. You can also set a bet with yourself. Say there’s a chore that you hate so much that you’ve delayed it for weeks. You might consider making a bet that if you finish that chore on a set date, then you will reward yourself with something.
Reward Yourself After
Doing several household chores in a day is very tiring mentally and physically. So you deserve a reward once you’ve finished them. You can use food as a reward. It’s an effective way to motivate workers in the workplace, so it might work at home as a self-motivator as well.
Also, you might consider setting up two rewards: one in the middle and another at the end. Reward yourself after you accomplish half of the tasks to further motivate yourself to finish all the tasks left. And after you do, give yourself another reward for clearing out all your chores.
You can’t always avoid doing household chores when you live alone. But by applying any or all the tips listed above, you can motivate yourself and make it an enjoyable experience.
