Three Jobs, One Life

If you pull out a list of all the jobs that need doing around almost any home, they will fall into roughly three categories: janitorial, managerial, or executive. Most paying jobs fall into basically one of those three categories, but the home is a significant blend of all three.

I’d even go so far as to say, that much of the frustration of “staying at home” is the result of overemphasizing the janitorial aspect, which in turns results in neglect of the very real obligations of the other areas.

Janitorial stewardship tasks include such things as changing diapers, preparing meals, painting and papering, routine cleaning, dressing children, clothes maintenance, praying for materials needs.

Managerial stewardship tasks include teaching, planning menus, entertaining, planning schedules for self and/or family, scheduling maintenance routines for mechanical maids, discipline, praying through temporary problems and situations for others responsible to you.

Executive stewardship tasks include converting general biblical principles into specific family plans, setting time priorities, discerning prayer requests for character and attitude development for others, determining what will be taught and allowed to happen within the home, designing projects that will draw people into your home for constructive purposes, and discerning specific directions for family, friends, and disciples in the areas of life partner, choice of ministry, outreach endeavors and career paths.

Historically, women found the majority of their home time spent in janitorial-level tasks. The castle syndrome, the idea that the wife/mother is primarily in the home for the housekeeping convenience of the other family members was perpetuated by an overemphasis on the janitorial aspects of home life. The current syndrome is the contributing workers syndrome with both adults wishing the other would contribute more family funding from their individual employment outlets. While time-saving janitorial equipment and shared (or paid-for) housekeeping chores are more common in this enlightened age, it is only because the contributing worker syndrome has severely compressed available time for janitorial tasks, not because the home mission is viewed any differently.

The minority home view is that of a biblical life training center where both adults operate from the position that the wife/mother is uniquely designed to capably master the position of primary on-site coordinator of all home life training elements, overseeing a myriad of important details to assure their specific family mission is not impeded by wrong goals, priorities, procedures, practices, or processes.

A priority list (what someone ought to be doing) and a job breakdown list (what someone actually does), makes analyzing which categories need what kind of attention:

Janitorial tasks are the prime candidates for time saving measures. These are the tasks that need efficient attention and are done only as often as  necessary to maintain acceptable standards. Too much time here, means less time for other more vital long-term and accrued benefit projects.

Managerial tasks are the prime candidates for a one-time intensive organizational efforts that can then be tweaked periodically and revamped occasionally once it is in place. Weekly or bi-monthly family meetings, prepared menu plans, and timed cleaning routines can all be the result of managerial coordination.

Executive tasks are the those most likely to get lost in the life shuffle. They need concentrated thinking and discerning time, time hard to find without intentional planning, time that rarely happens when the bulk of available time is consumed while wearing the janitor’s cap.

Clean Cup Cleaning is built on principles that serve the spiritual walk as well as housecleaning tasks, making attention to all three types of home tasks more cohesive and overlapping, rather than compartmentalized and, consequently, neglected.

Clean Cup Cleaning provides an excellent tool for child training, automatically shifting many otherwise routine tasks into the managerial, and even executive, realms.

Clean Cup Cleaning corrals repetitive tasks, designing them to be quickly and efficiently done, and, when incorporating them with higher level home priorities, increases their value to receive professional attention.

Clean Cup Cleaning results in routines and processes that can be referred to for years, amassing mountains of accrued benefit time.

Clean Cup Cleaning starts with each person’s personal space, meaning even a one year old can begin apprenticeship training that will reap an entire life of benefits.