What Is Office Housework and Why Should You Stop Volunteering for It?

De-prioritize non-promotable tasks

I learned about the term office housework a few years into my career, and it was an “aha” moment for me. Harvard Business Review defines it well:

“Office housework happens outside of the spotlight. Some is administrative work that keeps things moving forward, like taking notes or finding a time everyone can meet. Some is emotional labor (‘He’s upset — fix it.’). Some is work that’s important but undervalued, like initiating new processes or keeping track of contracts. This kind of assignment has to get done by someone, but it isn’t going to make that person’s career.”

Some examples of office housework:

• Organizing company and team events.
• Taking notes during a brainstorming session.
• Finding a time everyone can meet.
• And many similar admin tasks that are not part of your core responsibilities.

Who Is Doing the Office Housework?

According to this study by Harvard Business Review, women are more likely to receive office housework requests because they are most likely to say yes.

“Men accepted requests 51% of the time; women, 76% of the time.”

How Does It Affect Your Career?

Office housework often consists of non-promotable tasks that consume time you could be spending on promotable work. Time is essential and limited. If you have been raising your hand for such tasks often, stop. It might be holding you back from doing “glamour” work.

My experience with office housework

I used to volunteer for organizing pretty much every team activity. I once organized an event for 80 people in the office. My core job was data science work and I was using my spare time doing office housework. Office housework did give me access and visibility to senior leaders, but it wasn’t the type of visibility that helped my career.

Since learning about office housework (and my “aha” moment), I have been mindful of things I volunteer for. Just because I am good at something doesn’t mean I need to do it.

The picture above is from a conference that I helped organize (office housework) and host (glamour work). Organizing the conference was months of effort. Did I need to do that? No. Did this work end up in my promo doc? No. However, hosting the conference as an MC did make it to my performance review. I helped organize it because I am good at it and wanted to, but in hindsight, I took away my time from other promotable work that would have ended up on my promo doc. Be mindful of how you use your time.

Takeaways

• Be mindful of how you are using your time at work. Are you raising your hand more often for office housework? Work smart, not hard.
• Office housework should be divided equally among everyone.
• Be mindful of your time and energy.

Further Reading

Books

• Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office by Lois Frankel
• Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
• Not Your Work Wife by Adena Goldberger

Articles

• Why Women Volunteer for Tasks That Don’t Lead to Promotions by Harvard Business Review
• Women of Color Get Asked to Do More “Office Housework.” — Here’s How They Can Say No by Harvard Business Review
• Who’s Doing the Office Housework? by Tidal Equality
• Women, Stop Volunteering for Office Housework! by The New York Times

Conclusion

Thanks for reading. I hope this was helpful!