Emotional Labor
Here’s a topic that will come up a lot in this blog: emotional labor.
You ask your husband to help you around the house. He says “sure! I’d love to. What do you want me to do?”
Your teenagers are happy to wash the dishes, but only if you ask them to.
Your scheduling app is full of notes and logistics for everyone.
You know what the kids are allergic to and when they broke their arm and what their medical history is. When your husband takes them to the doctor, he calls you six times with new questions.
And the most infuriating words you’ll ever hear in a household…
“Why didn’t you just ask?”
All of these are examples of emotional labor. It’s the worrying, planning, thinking about of tasks. It’s the anticipating of needs and the supervising of work done by others. It’s the noticing what needs to be done before doing it. And statistically speaking, it’s women who are the ones who are doing it.
In fact, women are taking on an average of 20 hours a week more in domestic duties, according to the 2020 Women in the Workplace Report (source). And while studies differ on the exact percentage, all of them agree that more than half of women surveyed are actively experiencing burnout.
Recognizing Burnout
Are you experiencing burnout? Check the symptoms below:
fatigue
cynicism / irritability
lack of motivation
difficulty concentrating
insomnia
headaches
chest tightness
stomachaches
nausea
hair loss
increased use of food / drugs / alcohol for comfort
increased crying
mood swings
If you are experiencing half or more of these symptoms, you may be experiencing burnout. And why not? You are dealing with work, raising children, maintaining a house, trying to have a sleep schedule, and trying to have a social life. You have little humans and pets that count on you to survive. You’re doing an additional 20 hours a week of direct labor and countless hours of emotional labor.
How we mitigate emotional labor
We have put a lot of thought into how our operations affect the mothers that we work with. A lot of companies charge an hourly rate, where you have to think about how much the services are going to cost each visit. You might be tempted or instructed to pre-clean your home. You might even be required to provide your own supplies, be present for the cleaning, or make arrangements for pets to be in daycare while your cleaners are working. You may not be guaranteed a certain day; and if you are guaranteed the day, you may not be guaranteed a certain time. If you have specialty cleaning needs, you may have to contact multiple vendors. You may need to download and use Cashapp, Zelle, Venmo, or another service to pay your invoice— or worse, actually remember to leave a check. And if your company isn’t paying their staff a living wage, you might notice that their results vary based on whether or not you remembered to leave a tip.
The way we have decided to approach home services is that if you have to think about it, we aren’t doing enough. Here are the practices we have put into place:
No-nonsense consultation process. You request a consultation on our website at any time of the day or night, our office manager coordinates a free in-home consultation at your earliest convenience, and a rep meets you in your own home on your terms. Need an evening or weekend appointment so you don’t have to take off work? No problem.
Easy decision making. Your quote will be issued to you in real time over text. It is itemized for each visit, so you know exactly what you are paying for. If you want us to ignore a guest suite or a finished basement, this will be clearly spelled out in your quote: no need to remember details. Need to discuss with your spouse? No worries. You can approve your quote at any time on our secure client portal from your phone and we aren’t going to pressure you into a contract.
Service agreements, not contracts. Speaking of contracts, you aren’t signing one. Making decisions for a whole year involve much more emotional heavy lifting than a visit-by-visit agreement. We earn your business every time we walk into and out of your door.
Same day, same time, same crew. Once you are scheduled, you will always have the same day and same time each visit. You will be assigned a specific crew that will visit your home to complete your clean. You’ll get to build a rapport with each other. They will learn your preferences, your pets’ and kids’ names and will be rooting for you! We will also cross-train other team members on your home and preferences in case one of your team members is out sick or takes vacation: it is important to us not to cancel your appointment because we know you need us!
Automated appointment reminders. You will get a simple text and email to remind you of your appointment and you can view all upcoming appointments in your client portal.
Pet friendly. We love your pets. Seriously, there are some houses we refer to as “Fido’s House” instead of “Mrs. Smith’s House.” You don’t need to make arrangements for your pets to be away, and we will be sure to give them extra kisses!
Multiple vendors. We have a list of preferred partners in flooring installation, flooring repair, professional organizing, packing and moving, home maintenance, pest control, carpet cleaning, air duct cleaning, upholstery cleaning, and more. If we identify additional needs during the consultation process or during our relationship, we can recommend vetted, high-quality contractors to you. No research, no reading websites, no calling around, no asking Facebook, no spreadsheets.
Flat Rates. Some days, we are going to walk in and it will be obvious that you had a great week. Things are in their place, the home is pretty tidy, and there are no mystery stains in the bathroom. Other weeks, the baby won’t be sleeping, the dogs will track in mud from the endless rain, and your springtime allergies will sap all your remaining energy. The last thing you want is to pay more to get things tamed. Our flat rate pricing is easier to budget and doesn’t punish clients for having a bad week.
No judgment zone. We are here to help, not to judge. Our staff are specifically trained on the link between mental health and a clean home and they know that their job is to safeguard your mental health by keeping your home clean. No one is judging you or making snide remarks about the condition: publicly or privately. We absolutely do not use before and after photos of occupied houses on our social media accounts.
Quick and simple complaint process. If we miss the mark, we make it easy to fix. Contact us in any way (phone, text, email, Facebook messenger, carrier pigeon) within 24 hours of your clean with the areas of concern, and we will re-dispatch a crew to fix those items for free.
Autopay. Our convenient and secure client portal can remember your preferred payment method so you don’t have to enter it multiple times. We can even set up autopay, so you never have to think about payment again.
Check out future blog posts to see what you and your family can do to reduce burnout too!
Amber Starling, Author
Founder and President of
Good Witch Cleaning Services, LLC
IICRC Journeyman Textile Cleaner