SubscribeA few months ago, my husband and I had a shift in our finances — an unexpected decrease in expenses, which led to an increase in funds available. There were lots of potential places into which the newly found funds could be directed. But, for me, the choice was crystal clear — we absolutely had to get a house cleaning service.
I must first confess that until just a couple of years ago, I’d never ‘believed’ in hiring anyone to clean our house. (There were certain kinds of people who had cleaning services — extremely busy people out doing urgently important things or people with money dripping from their fingertips; not regular everyday people, or so I thought).
My husband didn’t believe in the concept either. In fact, he was pretty confident in our ability to do it ourselves. He felt like we should be able to make it work — a concept I’d put to rest long ago. Eventually, he came around and we both accepted that it wasn’t about ability or even our desire to do it (or not) — it was about time. While we generally kept the house tidy, finding the time to really clean it was a growing challenge. We simply didn’t have the time, as many working families can attest.
We’re a family with two working parents and three kids all under the age of six living in a modest house. More and more, household chores were eating away at time that could be spent with our children and doing other, far more enriching things.
At the same time, the ‘outsource the house’ movement was taking hold. Families from all walks of life were taking back their time by outsourcing many of the chores that were eating up family time — everything from housecleaning to laundry to lawn care. It was all starting to make sense. It took a while to get here, but now, I think I’d sooner give up chocolate than the house cleaning service.
What we pay out to have the house cleaned every two weeks, we gain in:
- reduced stress about what cleaning needs to be done and when
- less mental energy spent trying to figure out how to get it all done
- more time spent on things we want to do
- that hour or two where everything is just so, until …
So, when you think about work/life balance, time management, and such, what’s one thing that, if outsourced, would have a positive impact on your quality of life?
And, if you’re already outsourcing, what have you outsourced in your house and what has been the pay-off?
(pictured above). It’s 3.5 x 7 inches and easily fits into a small purse or jacket pocket without taking up much space. And, with 176 pages, there’s a lot of space to jot one’s thoughts. I also use my mental notebook to jot down notes from conversations had on the run, details about potential purchases while shopping, the phone number of the mom I just met and want to reconnect with, and other miscellaneous thoughts I want to later recall.
.†At the time, it sounded like it could be helpful, but I was in the process of developing yet another system of my own, so I’d check it out as some point.