How to Get Your Husband to Help out with Chores

When it comes to household chores, division of labour is not exactly a common phenomenon across the world. Women continue to do the bulk of the work around the house while the men folk think that greasy pots and pans clean themselves magically. That's hardly fair!

Here are some ideas for you to try out to get your husband to help you around the house:

Plan the Chores

Make a comprehensive list of all the things that need to be done on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, from disposing of the trash and cleaning dishes to doing the laundry and cleaning the bathroom. Things like doing groceries, paying bills, gardening, taking kids and pets to the doctor and vet and cooking also belong on this list.

Sort and Divide Chores

Go through the chores list together and ask your husband what he¿s willing to take on. To make sure that he doesn't select only the easy chores, a good idea is to rate each task by level of difficulty.

Try to divide strenuous as well as easy tasks more or less equally. It is okay to negotiate!

Explain and Help

You may need to explain certain chores to your husband and give him helpful instructions (e.g. for doing the laundry). But be careful; you don't want to be heavy-handed or bombard him with instructions. Ask him if he needs your help and if he says he does, tell him how you go about the chore. Let him develop his own approach to performing his chores and be patient; it's okay if he doesn't do his chores exactly your way.

Do Not Nag

Nagging makes men even more stubborn and if you constantly nag your husband to perform his chores, he is likely to ignore you and you may end up fighting. Gentle and playful reminders like a loving sticky note on the fridge or his computer or a text message may work better.

Team Up

Many couples choose one day out of the week (usually Saturday) to get all the weekly chores done together. Put on some music, get some drinks, and have some fun doing chores as a team. What a great way to bond! Even some daily chores can be done in tandem: he can chop and prep ingredients while you cook and he can fold the laundry as you sort them.

Make sure to thank your husband from time to time for his help. Trust us, he'll reciprocate and appreciate all that you do, too! Chores are meant to be shared by each member of the household and when planned properly, there's no chance of a chore war arising!