Chores in your calendar
Plan your household chores in Outlook
In Outlook you plan household chores with recurring appointments: one block per theme, for example thirty minutes of cleaning every Tuesday. Choose whether the block shows as busy or free, set the reminder as you like and give household blocks their own category colour. That way you see work and home in one calendar.
Make a recurring household block
- New appointmentOpen the calendar in Outlook and create a new event at the time you want. Give it a clear name, such as "Home: bathroom and toilet".
- RepeatUnder repeat (in classic Outlook: recurrence) choose, for example, weekly on Tuesday.
- Show asChoose busy if you do not want colleagues booking a meeting in it, or free if the block is private and can move.
- ReminderA reminder five minutes before helps you start. If you would rather have peace, turn it off.
- CategoryGive household blocks one colour, for example orange. Then you see at a glance how much time goes on them.
- PrivateOn a work calendar you can mark the event as private, so others only see that you are busy.
Which blocks in Outlook?
| Block | When | Repeat | Show as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short clean | Tue and Thu, 7.30pm, 30 min | Weekly | Free |
| Big clean | Sat, 10am, 90 min | Weekly | Busy |
| Paperwork | Wed, 8pm, 30 min | Weekly | Free |
| Calls and emails | Fri, 12.30pm, 15 min | Weekly | Busy |
| Monthly job | First Saturday, 11.30am, 45 min | Monthly | Busy |
Tasks from To Do in your calendar
In the new Outlook and Outlook on the web you can drag tasks from Microsoft To Do into your calendar from the My Day pane. The task then becomes a block. Handy for one-off jobs; for routines a recurring appointment works better.
Where doing it by hand gets awkward
- When your day runs over, you have to drag every block yourself.
- A block does not know which jobs fit in it; you keep track of that separately.
- Routines with a rhythm such as every four days are fiddly to set up as a recurrence.
How SortYourMind does it
Outlook connected directly
Connect Outlook to SortYourMind and the app reads when you are busy. In your free time it places SyMslots, also in your Outlook calendar as busy and without reminders. Move an action and the block moves with it. When your day changes, the app replans from now.
- SyMslots in Outlook as busy, without reminders
- Routines on their rhythm, every 4 days too
- Priority 1 first, always on the day you chose
No card needed. Basic stays free. Works in the browser on any device.