Seth's Blog : Chores

Chores

They’re essential. The house begins to stink if we don’t take out the garbage.

But at work, while they might be essential, they may not be important. At least, not important enough for us to spend a lot of focus on.

Chores are:

Repeatable
Proven
Low risk
Fairly impersonal

The bills have to get paid. But they might not have to be paid by you.

Entrepreneurs, artists and freelancers often spend a lot of time on chores. We justify this because outsourcing chores to others costs money, and in this moment, money is tight.

But that’s not the real story.

The truth is that if we stop doing chores, we have to do real work instead. The things that aren’t repeatable or proven. The things that are emotionally difficult, creatively challenging or simply requiring exploration and guts to pursue. If we succeed at this work, there will be plenty of money to pay to get the chores done.

Doing chores cheerfully and with skill is a fine hobby. But it might not be what you need to do right now.