By the time the weekend rolls around, you need a break. You’ve been working hard all week, and now the sun is shining and you want to hit the park for a run. Or, it’s pouring rain and you want to veg out and watch TV. So what happens to that To Do list of projects you want to get done during your off hours? Nothing—and researchers say that knowing that we’re putting off tasks can diminish our sense of wellbeing and make it harder to relax.
In other words: You’ll enjoy your weekend more if you get more done.
With this in mind, I made a fresh list of house projects and put QuadJobs to work. First, I’ve been wanting to clean out our garage, replacing out-of-season items (sleds, skates, and shovels) with in-season ones (gardening tools, shovels and pails, and beach chairs). I’d been meaning to get air in all the bike tires, tidy up the work bench, and give the garage a good sweep after all the mud and grime that had been tracked in this past winter.
Second on my list: Bringing all the patio furniture out of the basement or shed and back on the patio! What a pain—no wonder I kept putting it off. I also wanted to take the covers off all the patio chairs and give them a quick wash.
Third: My kids had outgrown a lot of the clothes they’d worn the previous winter, and I had several bags of hand-me-downs that had been lingering for GoodWill for several weeks.
Lastly, I’d quit the photo album game circa 2012, which meant that we had not a single photo of our youngest two children in albums. This, apparently, bums them out. I’d been talking about getting the albums up to date for months, and even had printed out photos for each year. Couldn’t seem to find time to get those photos in the albums.
I posted on QuadJobs for two students, 3 hours each, on two consecutive weekends. I figured that even the most energetic college student would run out of steam after dealing with our stuff for 3 hours. Two Saturday mornings in a row, my husband and I took turns getting these jobs done. Mainly, we gave directions to the hardworking college students we hired — and they did the heavy lifting. To our amazement, by the end of the second Saturday, ALL of these tasks were complete.
Working together:
Garage 1.5 hours
Bike tires: 20 minutes (15 minutes spent finding pump)
Patio furniture: 1 hour
Cushions: 30 minutes to put back on after washing
GoodWill run: 30 minutes
Photo albums 2012-2019: 2.5 hours
6 hours of work later, we felt totally refreshed and our To Do list felt really under control. So worth the investment! The college students we hired kept us on task and made it impossible to put these jobs off. Best of all, they made the work much faster.
Stop procrastinating and get your list done with QuadJobs!
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QuadJobs is an online platform connecting college and graduate students to local jobs. From Saturday night babysitting to moving a couch to helping a local business during a busy time, students find flexible jobs that fit into whatever free time they have. By streamlining the employment connection between campus and community, QuadJobs unlocks jobs particularly well-suited for students’ busy, often changing schedules. The platform tracks every job a student takes and gathers performance reviews. Small jobs matter—they help a student network, earn income, and build a track record of work experience. Local employers can hire with efficiency and confidence.