{"id":684,"date":"2018-06-04T10:50:37","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T08:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/icanbeme.space\/?p=684"},"modified":"2022-07-06T14:01:13","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T12:01:13","slug":"the-joy-of-doing-chores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/","title":{"rendered":"The Joy of doing Chores"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Source: womansday.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Joy of doing Chores <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When I moved to Berlin<\/a> I  unpacked, cleaned, did a big shopping tour to IKEA, bought a washing machine, a fridge, and a lounge set for my balcony within the first 10 days, driven by my desire to do everything efficiently<\/a>. I had installed everything, except some things I needed some help with and there was only one box left to unpack, which content would go on a shelf that I still needed to assemble. I was very proud of myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a nagging voice in my mind kept telling me \u201cYou still need to unpack this box!\u201d. I resisted until when, 2 months afterwards, I finally felt the desire to unpack it. At that point, I truly enjoyed taking the time to check out everything and deciding where to put it. Then I looked at what I had done, and felt surprised by the joy of this relatively simple achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This discovery reminded me of something that I had learned years ago but still keep forgetting because of my efficiency drive: the simple joy of doing one thing at a time and taking all the necessary time to complete it, without rush. I can enjoy the feeling of accomplishment more often when doing one thing at a time than when doing everything at once. It is like buying new things – it generally makes us happier spreading our purchase over a period of time than buying everything at once. While I don\u2019t think we should obey to consumerism, we can take advantage of our adaptive brains. Instead of cleaning the whole house or unpacking all the boxes at once, we can do a little bit at the time and draw joy from these little accomplishments.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, cleaning up the house, filing documents or going shopping are all annoying and stressful chores. We tell ourselves \u201cI still need to do\u2026\u201d, \u201cI haven\u2019t done \u2026 yet\u201d, \u201cI should have already done \u2026\u201d. This makes us feel guilty for all the things we think we should have done already. We perceive ourselves as lazy or incompetent because \u201cit took us too long\u201d to accomplish them. Ultimately, this negative feedback loop makes us dread performing those chores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the case of the box, however, I realised that actually I do like chores such as unpacking, cleaning, and shopping; what I don\u2019t like is stressing out thinking that I should have already done them or should do them quicker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I keep reminding myself that I feel more joy from little accomplishments. I am learning more and more to listen to my inner voice when I feel like doing something. This process makes even the most boring chores enjoyable!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, there are things that we can\u2019t postpone indefinitely, waiting for a moment when we will feel like doing them. Yet, I question whether something need to be done right now. Do I really need to unpack that box now? Do I need to clean the floor immediately? Most of the time my urge comes from growing up hearing the maxim \u201cNever put off until tomorrow what you can do today\u201d. As for grocery shopping, it surely helps to have a plan to avoid having to make a trip to the supermarket every day. However, I have to admit that I like strolling around the supermarket and spontaneously decide what I\u2019d like to eat on a particular day. As for cleaning, I bought myself a vacuuming robot, relieving me from the part of cleaning that needs to be done most frequently. While I enjoy cleaning as a form of relaxing meditation, I don\u2019t like being forced to do it. Thanks to my robot, I can clean my house only when I feel like doing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you perceive getting chores done as accomplishments? Let us know<\/a> how you motivate yourself getting things done \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Written by Julia Heuritsch | Last edited: 15th June 2022<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Joy of doing Chores When I moved to Berlin I  unpacked, cleaned, did a big shopping tour to IKEA, bought a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[16,24],"yoast_head":"\nThe Joy of doing Chores | I can be me Blog - Julia Heuritsch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I have recently discovered a new attitude towards these kinds of activities \u2013 enjoying the simple sense of accomplishment they bring.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Joy of doing Chores | I can be me Blog - Julia Heuritsch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I have recently discovered a new attitude towards these kinds of activities \u2013 enjoying the simple sense of accomplishment they bring.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"I can be me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-04T08:50:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-06T12:01:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/www.womansday.com_-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Julia Heuritsch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Julia Heuritsch\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/\",\"name\":\"I can be me\",\"description\":\"#Saywhatis!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/www.womansday.com_.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/www.womansday.com_.jpg\",\"width\":2120,\"height\":1414,\"caption\":\"Source: womansday.com\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/\",\"name\":\"The Joy of doing Chores | I can be me Blog - Julia Heuritsch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-04T08:50:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-06T12:01:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/#\/schema\/person\/541227941ec236a1d8facf03e358250b\"},\"description\":\"I have recently discovered a new attitude towards these kinds of activities \u2013 enjoying the simple sense of accomplishment they bring.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Joy of doing Chores\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/#\/schema\/person\/541227941ec236a1d8facf03e358250b\",\"name\":\"Julia Heuritsch\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df3d45a61d596b7bcd33d0b718d3c152?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df3d45a61d596b7bcd33d0b718d3c152?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Julia Heuritsch\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/author\/admin1076\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Joy of doing Chores | I can be me Blog - Julia Heuritsch","description":"I have recently discovered a new attitude towards these kinds of activities \u2013 enjoying the simple sense of accomplishment they bring.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Joy of doing Chores | I can be me Blog - Julia Heuritsch","og_description":"I have recently discovered a new attitude towards these kinds of activities \u2013 enjoying the simple sense of accomplishment they bring.","og_url":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/","og_site_name":"I can be me","article_published_time":"2018-06-04T08:50:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-07-06T12:01:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/www.womansday.com_-1024x683.jpg"}],"author":"Julia Heuritsch","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Julia Heuritsch","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/#website","url":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/","name":"I can be me","description":"#Saywhatis!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/www.womansday.com_.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/www.womansday.com_.jpg","width":2120,"height":1414,"caption":"Source: womansday.com"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/","name":"The Joy of doing Chores | I can be me Blog - Julia Heuritsch","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2018-06-04T08:50:37+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-06T12:01:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/#\/schema\/person\/541227941ec236a1d8facf03e358250b"},"description":"I have recently discovered a new attitude towards these kinds of activities \u2013 enjoying the simple sense of accomplishment they bring.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/2018\/06\/04\/the-joy-of-doing-chores\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Joy of doing Chores"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/#\/schema\/person\/541227941ec236a1d8facf03e358250b","name":"Julia Heuritsch","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df3d45a61d596b7bcd33d0b718d3c152?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df3d45a61d596b7bcd33d0b718d3c152?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Julia Heuritsch"},"url":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/author\/admin1076\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=684"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2197,"href":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684\/revisions\/2197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icanbeme.space\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}