Because it was taken from us. We used to divide labor, taking care of the home was considered a full time job for 1 adult.
Now here we are. Where it now takes 2 incomes, or frankly more, to raise a family and have a home. Now you have no time to do anything and purchase more expensive convince items to try to claw back time.
1 income should be enough if they want us to start having kids again
Not even just one person. For most of history people mostly didn’t live in a household with just 2 adults. That “dream” was an artificial setup as well. Now, if we had more community services, like common kitchens, child care etc, that might even be attainable but I’m not even sure it’s preferable.
The trick is to live in a big public space together with all your friends and share the labor, the rewards, and the love. Then reap genuine enjoyment and physical/emotional growth from the work you’re doing while you support others doing the same.
The problem is when you forced to compartmentalize the tasks, with the expectation that “exercising” and “working” and “socializing” and “eating” and “cleaning” are all distinct activities you micromanage. Living together with people you enjoy spending time around goes a long, long way towards killing many birds with few stones. Then making and eating and cleaning up food isn’t something you do distinct from hanging out and relaxing. Biking around gets you energized and sends you where you need to go. Many hands make light work of seemingly onerous tasks. Hell, sharing a shower with your partner(s) can be as intimate as it is efficient.
But all of this is predicated on a foundation - social roots you build up over years/decades. Every time you change schools or look for a new job on the other side of the country or having a falling out with family/friends or switch housing leases because the rent went up or chase a new zip code because the school your kid goes to sucks or watch a close friend or old neighbor do the same, it fucks everything back up to square one.
People who have this close-knit, long-term social circle and don’t need to constantly uproot themselves can “do it all” easier than the folks who are told to endlessly hustle in search of that next nut.
Translation: people that aren’t forced to live in isolated boxes and work in isolated boxes have better lives
Little boxes, little boxes, little boxes made of ticky tacky
Too bad the only way to achieve this currently is joining a fucking cult
A fucking cult you say? 👉😏👈
Not a bad idea actually. “Join my cult, it’s just a social club I swear 😅”
Look into co-housing communities or eco-villages. There are ways to do this even within our overly bureaucratic system.
Do those communities just accept anyone in your area? In all the cities I’ve lived, you have to apply to these communities with a desired skill from a list; it’s necessary for filtering out people who think making lattes and doing tarot readings are key skills.
I don’t mean to offend at all, and in a co-housing situation those are nice and probably welcome, but not key skills, no.
Still gotta pay rent, for food, maybe more. The closest place to me isn’t near (for me) and charges $50 for a tour. EDIT: Can’t even seem to find that visit info online now.
It doesn’t help that I don’t particularly like most people I meet and living with or close to anyone other than my own family has been hell everywhere I went.
The “exercise” part for most of the world just comes from the fact that every trip isn’t just a walk to your mobile couch that takes you to another place with static couches.
I swear to god though. I’m not “weak” everywhere. The small muscles I use to move the mouse on my computer, shake my leg all day sitting because I don’t want to sit, move my foot to drive, they are all MASSIVE for their size.
I’m so exhausted from trying to NOT move my body all day that I’m way too tired to do actual healthy exercise. Yoga, helps but it’s just a means of keeping things from getting worse. If I could avoid all those awful things I’m sure yoga would improve things over time. But 90% of waking hours are forcing me to hurt my body.
For every 1 time I remember to squat instead of bend my back there are 100 times I’m too focused to get distracted for 30 minutes at how I need to do better.
I lost my job a few months ago and so I’ve had an inordinate amount of free time and it made me realize the same thing. Even with essentially infinite time I can’t get everything that needs to be done, done.
Your time may be endless but your fatigue level won’t care.
great quote!
“Things that need to be done” is a gas-state that grows to fill the volume of time that you have.
High pressure gas state
It’s impossible because we are social animals. We are evolved to live in tribes and extended families. We are trying to achieve things alone that our ancestors achieved in groups of up to 100 people. Rugged individualism is killing all of us.
That’s the neat part, I don’t!
Yeah the secret is not staying on top of all of these at once but finding a good balance
We aren’t.
I cook, my husband cleans. So we both eat. Cooking for everyone else so I do remember to eat too.
I work out because I prioritize it. Same with sleep. Let other things slide if you have to, I promise they won’t slide as bad as if you don’t work out and sleep.
We have someone come and clean every other week so it doesn’t get too far out of control.
And not good at keeping up with people, oh well. I’m not really someone who collects people like that, though I have some friends who do, so got collected, lol. But we have parties once in awhile and catch up at those, or at least hang out.
Split the house chores between a partner, meme and doom scroll social media while at work, exercise at home or nearby. Don’t have the energy to keep in contact with most people all that often though. Get what sleep I can.
And always always always poop at work
But work doesn’t have a bidet and has sand paper to wipe with.
Portable travel bidet
For anyone in doubt
Whistling my way through the office, carrying one of these. Throwing out wink or two on the way back.
I think I’m still in doubt
The best way to manage life is to just rub one out to extreme German pornography every time you complete a task.
Is rubbing one out considered completing a task?
And thus an infinite regression was born
The Germans aren’t going to like this…
Depending on the method it may be considered exercise.
Depends if you get distracted by something on the internet that isn’t porn half way through.
That’s just more cleanup!
I just lick it off. I call it recycling.
Fuck them normies! One task per day only gang for life!
I don’t. I don’t take showers. And stopped going to the gym cuz no time.
We don’t. For a couple of years I am working in organizing my life much better, but it is still not possible to do everything.
Now imaging having children on top
Who says people do? My house is clean and I spend a lot of time with my friends. But I still don’t have the time to work out and I haven’t worked for 4 months.
When I was in my last relationship, it was always a struggle between spending time together or going to the gym.
We dont but if you spend your life energy at a company, they are very grateful and you may get a watch after 30 years of service.
“Here’s all the time you’ll never get back. Now shoo so we can pay someone younger less money to do your job.”
Do at least two at once
Have enough space
Use company time to do all of them
Nothing about the American lifestyle helps with any of this.
I like cooking a hands-off kind of dinner that takes a while, so I have time to clean or whatever while I wait. If I have to schedule appointments, that happens while I’m on the clock. I wish exercise wasn’t such a focused task. Feels like forever just doing one tedious thing.
Exercise should happen during commute, social time, any time you’re sitting and not doing anything important, a real job that requires you actually do things.
Social also overlaps nicely with food.
