chores, tasks and projects
When I was young, I was not always particularly good at doing my chores. It’s been a while, and my memory is perhaps imperfect, but there were the things that needed doing every week: collecting the trash, cleaning the litter box, there was a list
I will admit that I was not always fastidious about making sure my weekly chores had been done. But one thing I’ve found as I’ve gotten older is a joy in chores. There are a couple of reasons. One is that, even though they persist, coming back frequently, when they’re done, for a time they’re done. I’ve just finished doing some laundry, and there is a small satisfaction from being done.
Chores are one of the ways that we can mark the passage through our days. Chores come, seeking attention; chores go, done for the time being. And we know that they will come again. We expect them. They become friend, dropping by for a cup of tea, that needs then to be washed up.
Perhaps this is an artificial categorization, but I view tasks as different from chores. A task needs to be done, but it’s often singular, one thing to be done, rather than the regularity of a chore.
Some tasks are internally generated: this is a thing that I’ve decided needs to be done, though often they are generated by the life we’re leading.
We recently had some new bookcases built into our lounge. They are spectacular, but now we need to rearrange the books in the house. Which books go on display in the lounge. And this I view as a task: populating the bookcases in the lounge, and then potentially rearranging the books elsewhere in the house (we have many books). It will be done at some point in the not too distant future, and one thing I’m looking forward to, is finding books I’d forgotten I’d bought, and so the TBR pile will undergo some seismic activity.
Projects are much more voluntary: this is a thing that I will spend some significant time on. Project mountain is large, reaching into the clouds, and I am scaling it slowly. Steadily. Gradually.
And that doesn’t bother me. Chores and tasks don’t necessarily require research and practice; they require some effort and the willingness to do. A good project, on the other hand, can be an unexplored continent, a vast landscape that requires some preparation, some planning, and then the expedition into its heart.
And so, onward.
multijimbo 