Chore Cards.. Almost makes it fun..

[mouser]

If you've followed my previous posts in this section you know how I swear by an index card system of getting things done.

I use hundreds of index cards organized into dozens of sections, with a single ToDo item on each card; I find it a very satisfying way to keep track of things.

Recently I started using the card system with my weekly chores around the house.

I have a card for each potential chore, and then at the beginning of the weekend i select the cards for the chores i think need to get done that weekend, and put them up on the refrigerator.  When a chores is completed, the respective card is put back into the deck.

While it's kind of silly for me to have such a system just for myself, I can see how this would be fun to use if you have kids -- letting them randomly choose cards and handing them in when their chore is done.

Anyone else have an interesting system to keep your family organized when it comes to household chores (pictures please!)

[cranioscopical]

This helps!

[p3lb0x]

I believe this is more effective

[Daleus]

Geez mouser, do you ever get the feeling no one takes you seriously?

I have to admit I *did* laugh my ass off though.....

[mouser]

do you ever get the feeling no one takes you seriously?

nah, it's all in good fun. 

[Ampa]

Trying your method out this week.

Instead of feeling down because of a big pile of washing up, I now feel down because my chore card is nagging me to do the big pile of washing up!

Seriously: I think it might be helping

[tomos]

mouser, a sort of banal side-question - did you use your label printer here ? (or how are they printed?)
The printed text, especially with bold & underlined, give the notes a lot of authority (maybe even the font makes a difference I'm serious about font btw - a very "don't mess with me" font)

[mouser]

I use a Dymo labeler for all of these things
(see my mini-review here)

It makes a *HUGE* difference in terms of usability.. you might not think it would but it really does.. the brain just seems to process these cards differently if they have clean printed label vs. hand-written.

[Deozaan]

My family used an index card system. It was a bit more complex than yours.

The cards were color coded for how often they needed to be done: daily, weekly, monthly, and perhaps even bi-monthly, yearly, and other time intervals. The card tray then had dividers for each day, week, month, etc. I don't remember exactly what these dividers were. 1-31 (one for each potential day of the month) should be enough if you organize your chores to no larger than 1 month intervals.

Then each day you grab the cards from the current day, do the chore, and then file them back in to the next appropriate time they need to be done. It's really efficient and works well, if you keep up on it.

I've been thinking about this index card system a lot lately and I've been wanting a todo list type program that was organized this way. Then again, it's probably only really effective if you've got the physical cards to touch and feel and get out and put back in.

[Paul Keith]

I'm not so sure of that Deozaan.

My idea for the Timeline Maker Alternative for example addresses the same issue in which Pop Up Wisdom's well... Pop Up replaces any physical card necessary. Different subject and objective but same principle.

Similarly, app uses the digital Post-it software from 3m which does the same.

Equally before Google screwed the app up, I was a big fan of Activity Tracker's "punch card" type feel.

Supermemo and it's clones also relies on the digital flash card system to better streamline the process and improve upon the traditional hand held flash card.

In fact, most of the programs which I ended up sticking with had some sort of card form combination implemented with it. I'm not saying they fulfill your need but physical index cards are only advantageous in it's portability and print-snappiness (if you have a labeler)

As a full blown system like what you're talking about, maintenance can be hell especially if only one person is managing it. Not impossible (it's much simpler to set up than David Allen's 43 folders/envelopes/file cabinet majingey) but not really near omnipotent for someone who doesn't have a room or even the house to himself.

[Deozaan]

I imagine a simple web app based on this idea could be very useful.

It's basically a glorified ToDo list, except specifically for tasks that must be done again and again.

Basically, it just needs a description of the chore, the repeat rate for the chore, and the ability to either refile (set it to pop up at the next interval) or delay one day ("do tomorrow" option). If you could log in and it would show the tasks that need to be done with a simple link for these two options, that's about all that's needed.

[Paul Keith]

For that purpose, I used to use Listography: http://listography.com/ before I kind've forgotten about it and forgot my account altogether.

For the pop-up idea, Listaculous seems to have that feature but I personally haven't tried it: http://www.listaculous.com/

They don't all fulfill your requirements but then again, I can't see why Remember The Milk's Inbox + Postpone button can't fulfill this need so I'm not sure whether it's the features that don't satisfy you or the ui.

That said, your requirement for a web app seems to go against the idea of an index card. Even services like NowDoThis and Workhack requires the added inconvenience of opening up a browser.

[Kamel]

My wife and I are going to be using our own version of this chore card system in order to make sure we aren't overlooking what needs to be done when it needs to be done. Thanks a lot for the tip on the chore cards, I'll let everyone know how ours goes when we finish making and implementing it.

So far, it's going to be very different than what we've seen on the internet. The big difference is it's going to geared towards adults, so having individual assignments wont be necessary. The primary goal and focus will be simply to know when someone has and hasn't completed something so that we can keep on top of things without constantly consulting one another on what we've already done and discussing what needs to be done.