Is Organizing a Chore or a Project?
Years ago, I saw Jay Leno do a bit about the difference between men and women. He said the difference comes down to chores and projects. Women do chores and men do projects. Chores are tasks that need to be done on a regular basis (like laundry or washing dishes) in order to make life run smoothly – and women know this. Projects are big tasks that are done once and then don’t need to be considered again for a long time (like planting a tree or fixing a leaking faucet) – men are project doers. This is what Jay said, but of course in a much funnier way.
It got me thinking.
For some, organizing is a chore, and for others, organizing is a project. Which are you?
Project People
The project people sometimes become our clients. You wait until the space you want to get organized is overwhelming. It’s either piles upon piles of paper with no system or years’ worth of stuff left in the garage, keeping the car in the driveway. This is an organizing project. It will take time, but you certainly can do it. By getting the support of a professional, you are able to wade through the backlog and find the organization on the other end of the project.
Chore People
For the people who see organizing as a chore, they organize as they go. They have systems set up to stay organized. You may file paper as you go. Or clean out your clothes closet with the seasons. Maybe you organize one minute at a time to maintain the order in their home. You are an organized person.
But there are a lot of people in between the chore-folks and the project-folks. They could possibly be our clients as well. You are fairly organized. Sometimes, just don’t like to do it. You are smart enough to know this about yourself. So make an appointment with an organizer. Then you’ll block out time to get it done. Having someone help you, the chaos becomes order quickly, allowing you to live the life you want.
For some, organizing is a chore, and for others, organizing is a project. Which are you? Click To Tweet
Which are you – a chore person or a project person? Or are you in between?
You might enjoy reading Chores We Hate the Most and the Lengths We Go to Avoid Them from Porch. They have some great infographics.
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
I think I’m a recovering organizing as a project person. Slowly, I’m becoming an organizing as a chore person and I’m TRYING to get my family there too! Ha! There are still some big “projects” around the house that I need to tackle in order to really have some great systems that just take daily maintenance. Love you video and the thought about men and women as “project” and “chore” people! This is definitely true for my husband and me! Great article, thank you for the read.
Thanks Jana. There’s always a project around the house.
Interesting concept… have never thought of things this way before. Sometimes I set up recurring tasks to make sure I stay on top of certain things, but then I feel resentful because I “have to” do them, even if it’s something I generally like to do, so I think I’m more of a project person.
Ha Ha! We are all different.
I see it as organizing for the first time is a project. But then when you maintain the organization, it becomes a chore or routine.
I agree, but I also agreed with Jay that men are project people and women are chore people.
I agree! There are two types of people, Chore or Project folks. I tend to be both. I love doing chores when I need to help clear my mind. But, I also like to do projects because it allows me to create or update something, which is also satisfying. Maybe that is why I share so many DIY projects on my blog. lol
I am really a chore person at home, but a project person at work. So I guess a lot of people are a mix.
Interesting comparison! I am definitely in between. Some tasks are easier to see as ongoing chores (the dishes, bookkeeping) – but others are not!
I think chores are “more” mindless activities and project need more concentration.
I can imagine how funny Jay Leno’s skit was. I love how you segued his concept and related it to organizing- Chore or Project People. And also like how you made it not all black and white, recognizing that it’s a spectrum. Perhaps depending on the scenario we can be more chore-like with certain aspects and more project-like with others. All interesting ways to think about things.
Yes. I loved Jay’s take on it and it really got me thing.
What a great way of looking at it. I think I am *mostly* a project person. I love to file a big batch of papers, or purge all of a major category of files, or shred everything once the shred box gets full. And I hate to file just one piece of paper or shred today’s junk or purge just one folder while I’m in it. The same goes for purging clothes out of my closet or setting up systems. I think, for me, I do best when I completely focus my time, attention, and effort on something, so I do best with big swings. I suppose that makes me guy-like in my approach, but it helps when working with clients, because I can maintain all my enthusiasm as we work through a project.
That said, there are a few organizing-related chores that I like, but I think they relate more to the productivity/time management side of my life rather than the tangible resources side of things. Thanks for giving me something intriguing to consider.
I’m just the opposite. I love to organize as I go. But I also like working on a big project with clients. I look at it through other aspects of my life. I like to clean as a go, exercise throughout the day (that one is not really working), make phone calls as a way of multi-tasking, throughout the day.
Whatever works!
This is a great way of categorizing people looking for organization, and also useful as a spectrum! I’m definitely going to incorporate this into the way I speak to clients.
Thanks Katherine. I agree that there is a spectrum.