40 Ways To Procrastinate Instead Of Doing Housework

Where there is housework to be done, procrastination really comes into its own.

Housework is so pointless because as soon as it is done, it just about instantly needs doing again. – After many years of practice, here are my top tips for procrastinating doing the housework.

1. Make a list of all the things you need to get done this week and then decide you’ll do them all later.

2. Eat chocolate.

3. Clean the bristles of the broom or vacuum brush.

4. Text all your friends and answer all those messages you opened and read but forgot to reply to.

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5. Dance like no one’s watching.

Best done when everyone else is out/in bed asleep because nobody is watching.

6. Buy things on eBay.

7. Go through all the ‘customers who bought this also bought…’ links.

8. Read Facebook arguments.

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9. Rearrange your house.

In your mind.

10. Go through a whole packet of baby wipes trying them out on every surface in your house.

11. Re-arrange your sock drawer.

Actually, or in your mind.

12. Practice your autograph for when you become famous.

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13. Pretend the floor in your room is hot lava.

14. Reorganise any draw or shelf.

15. Facebook stalk people you haven’t spoken to since high school to find who’s hot and who’s not.

16. Go onto Google Earth and decide where you’re going to build your dream home.

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17. Playing fetch with the cat, or any pet.

Or small child.

18. Try to see how long you can hold your breath.

19. Play dress ups.

20. Watch a YouTube beauty tutorial on how to create perfect victory rolls.

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21. Have a tea party with the kids.

22. Make a list of all the books you’ve always wanted to read then decide you don’t have time to actually read any of them.

23. Start putting stuff on buy, swap and sell site to sell.

24. Shop for a whole new wardrobe or furniture set online then cancel cart at the end.

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25. Sort your wardrobe by colour.

26. Fold clothes in front of the telly, but mainly watch telly.

27. Have an elaborate squiggle session on a corner of a document.

28. Try to master a yoga pose.

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29. Put something random of yours for sale on eBay, such as the most irritating toy you own.

Win-win.

30. Learn the lyrics to a complicated rap song and perform it for your children.

31. Use eyeliner to draw a moustache onto your face and then take selfies.

32. Practice writing your name with your non-dominant hand.

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33. Learn the choreography from a music video.

34. Attempt to develop six-pack abs by doing a series of sit-ups, press-ups and leg raises before deciding that getting a six-pack is too much work.

35. Bake.

36. Braid your hair.

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37. Binge-watch several episodes of your favourite show.

38. Watch a YouTube video tutorial on how to twerk.

39. Inspect your pores in a magnified mirror.

40. Write a one-act play in which you and Ryan Gosling happen to meet in a local park and inevitably fall into a passionate, whirlwind romance.

The benefits of procrastination are having to put off till tomorrow what you could have done today, and you will always be busy. – Also, when you actually do get to do the housework, everybody appreciates it so much more! Think you’ll get busted? Check out our post on how to make it look like you’ve done a day’s work!

How do you like to procrastinate?

Clare Whitfield Chief Editor

Clare Whitfield is the Editor of Stay at Home Mum and a recognised voice in practical home management for Australian families. Based in the northern suburbs of Sydney, she balances editorial leadership with life as a stay at home mum to two school age children. Her background in home economics and more than a decade of experience in recipe development, family budgeting, and household systems inform her work.

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