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Procrastination has always been a pet peeve of mine, but since becoming new homeowners, it has taken over our lives. In the grand scheme of things, our house stays tidy, but the chores that keep it this way are tedious and time-consuming. Lately, both the miniscule and major things have somehow fallen by the wayside, and we have become conveniently distracted when it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty.

My new tactic to take on the dreary tasks is to divide the labor. Below is a master list of our chores, and with the assistance of my loving and endearing husband, we are conquering each item on it.

Grocery shopping: This chore makes me happy. Don’t ask me why, don’t ask me how, but I love it. Perhaps it goes hand-in-hand with my love of shopping for clothes and shoes, but grocery shopping is enjoyable. With tons of self-control, Andrew lets me handle this.

Laundry: Andrew has skills in various departments, but laundry isn’t exactly one of them. I’m the one sorting groups of lights, darks and pinks. (Yes, pinks.)

Unloading the dishwasher: I snag this one as well since I do most of the cooking and need to be able to locate my kitchen gadgets without the use of a GPS. I have found that if Andrew does it, my kitchen is completely out of whack and not exactly efficient when it comes to quick meals.

Vacuuming/Mopping: I have yet to meet someone as proud of the lines on the carpet as Andrew. More power to him (literally)! If only a mop could deliver the same satisfaction.

Bathrooms: This journey we embark upon together. I can handle the majority of the bathroom, but I delightfully leave the shower to Andrew. He has elbow grease I simply don’t have. While he is armed with Tilex and a scrubber sponge, I am equipped with an incredible toilet brush, and I don’t mind one bit.

Garbage/Recycling: Andrew handles this for the most part, but occasionally I will fill in. It’s not a biggie.

Landscaping/Yard maintenance: I empower my husband to be creative outside. Andrew is definitely more resourceful than me in this department. I’ll stick with designing the inside, and the outdoors can be his palette.

Of course there are times when other things need to be done such as changing the air filters, wiping down the baseboards, cleaning the windows and dusting the blinds. These are less frequent and we typically knock them out together as needed. Team work is so important in maintaining a home, and luckily, I have a pretty good teammate to play house with.

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