Housework

I’ve been living alone since last July. Before starting to live on my own, I worried about whether I could keep up with housework consistently. From laundry to cleaning to cooking, my family used to take care of everything. Since I was already busy with work, when I lived at home I gratefully benefited from the housework my family did.

So I was worried about living alone. I like things to be clean and tidy. Would I be able to maintain that kind of household state by myself? I’d heard that housework endlessly generates itself.

After living alone for about a month and a half, I found that housework really does pile up even if you just breathe. Cups you drank water from, clothes you’ve worn, towels you’ve used. Even though it’s a home with just one person, why does so much accumulate?

Housework is a hassle, but it also has its advantages. Since it’s something you can start without any particular deliberation, it seems perfect as a warm-up task to get you going before starting work. If you jump straight into something demanding like work tasks or programming, it’s tough. But if you do a bit of housework first and then start your main work, it feels less burdensome.

However, there’s hardly anything more stressful than coming home late from work wanting to rest, only to find housework piled up. As if things weren’t hard enough already, having housework you absolutely must do on top of that.

It seems like the burden lessens when housework can be multitasked. Like doing the dishes while running the washing machine. Or boiling soup while roasting meat in the oven. The more things you do at once, the greater the sense of accomplishment when you finish, and the less burdensome it feels.

I’m thinking about ways to benefit more from modern conveniences so I can handle housework with even more multitasking.