Domestique Diaries – Workout Chores

Athletes have an innate determination to push themselves to the limit, both physically and mentally in key workouts and during a race. They have the ability to push through the hardest circumstances and constantly test their athletic ability. They strive for excellence, and hit every workout to the tee regardless of external circumstances. These are personalities that make not just an athlete, but a world class athlete. These personalities carry over into the athlete’s life and other pursuits and if wise enough into household chores; here’s how I found the link.

Household Chores/ Workout

Brent has the athlete personality to plough through everything and sometimes this can be to my advantage. I’m a cleaner-extraordinaire no need to lie, I love cleaning and am convinced I have mild OCD when it comes to cleaning. Anyways since living with Brent I’ve been content with doing all the cleaning myself, cause then it’s done to my standards. Well since Brent has been on down time, he has willingly asked to help with weekly chores by volunteering to clean the bathrooms. So the first week, I pick Brent up some manly blue rubber gloves and he sets off to clean the bathrooms while I clean the rest of the house.

Brent, having that personality ploughs through it and when I go to check it out it’s done just a little sub par. I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s just different from my way. I don’t want to tell him it’s a little sub par, so I grin and bear it. Later in the week I start to question his process during conversations and I find him answering things like “you don’t need to wash the shower because the soap from showering cleans it every time you shower”, and “the floor didn’t look dirty so it didn’t need to be washed this week”. So inside I’m having a little anxiety attack, the next day when I’m home before Brent I re-clean the bathrooms. Mentally all week I rack my brain about how to approach this minute dilemma, I don’t want to turn Brent off of chores so soon by telling him about his sub par performance, especially since he was so happy about it.

Then it hits me, a workout chore with all the steps written out for Brent to follow and plough trough just like he does his workouts.

So I buy a chore checklist and write out the following for Brent:

Focus: Clean bathrooms

WU: remove and shake/vacuum all carpets from bathroom and kitchen

MS: 1 x shower and tub scrub

2 x toilet bowl, seat scrub (1’)

300 m vacuum- all floors

CD: 2 x Windex mirrors (1’)

2 x wash floors in bathroom (1’)

Fold laundry in laundry room

The result was a magnificently cleaned bathroom. Just as suspected Brent hammered through this as accurately as he does a workout. I realized later if you don’t put a date on the top Brent wants to hammer it out right away. So as long as the date is there, on that day no matter what else he has going on, he will hammer through that workout chore and with sufficient detail on the workout he will do it exactly as it appears on the workout. I have to admit its a little fun for me to write out a new workout chore every week. I change it up all the time so it never gets boring for either of us. And that athlete determination shines through even in weekly chores. What a household!

You know you’re living with a triathlete when:

-your chores are written out in workout form and are hammered out with determination and mad skills.

Live laughing,

Carley J