Lifestyle

Average British adult will spend equivalent of more than two years of life doing chores or life admin

A study of 2,000 adults revealed a total of 26 hours each month is spent dragging the vacuum around the house and completing household jobs such as paying bills or grocery shopping.

But they’ll spend just 14 hours doing what they actually enjoy, like watching movies or heading out to dinner.

This amounts to a total of one year and two months having fun.

Hakan Cirak, Head of Sales at SHARP Home Appliances UK, which commissioned the survey to mark the launch of its 2021 home appliance range, said: “Doing household chores and life admin in general takes up a LOT of our spare time.

“However, making sure your life is in order is obviously extremely important, as that foundation allows you the time to spend how you want to.

“Our results show people are always thinking about the best way to make the most of their time.”

The study also found the average adult even spends more than 90 minutes a month simply thinking about the chores they’ve got on their to-do lists, before they’ve even got around to doing them.

And for four in 10, spending so much extra time at home has seen an uptick in the number of jobs they have to do.

Another 11 per cent are even at the point where they’ve started finding chores to do around the home simply to get some ‘me time’.

Cleaning the oven, however, was deemed the household chore most hated by Brits – followed by cleaning the bathroom, then doing the windows.

But one in five admitted they enjoy running the vacuum over their floors, while 16 per cent like getting a wash on.

It also emerged one in three adults dedicates a particular day of the week to completing their household chores, rather than tackling them as-and-when.

It’s most likely to be Saturday, although just under one in 10 aim to complete the misery of a Monday by doing their housework that day.

The research, carried out via OnePoll, also found 35 per cent of adults think that life admin and chores take up ‘most’ of their time.

And the same amount confessed to feeling ‘overwhelmed’ by the amount of dusting, polishing, mopping and sweeping their homes hold.

As a result, more than half plan to spend less time on chores in the future, so they can spend more time doing what they really enjoy.

Hakan Cirak added: “The pandemic has reminded many of us just how important our homes are. They are a centre of family life and a place to enjoy the best of our lives – there’s more to it than just keeping them spotless though!

“In 2020 we learnt how important it is to make a house a home and we hope these new products will take some of the everyday stresses out of our customers’ daily lives and leave more room for living.”

“Our new range’s time-saving features are all about bringing a bit more balance to their lives and making everyday chores easier and quicker to complete.

“Whether it’s a washing machine’s steam cycle that cuts down ironing or hybrid cooling that keeps food fresher for longer and cut trips to the shops.”

Joe Mellor

Head of Content

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