Recently Devyn and I have been talking around a lot of hypotheticals with a household manual. The idea around it being that the manual houses information regarding protocols, household tasks, budgets, and the like. His would include what he calls his “book of lists” that he outlines in his class and book about organizational authority transfer.

In part of our conversation he mentioned that he doesn’t particularly like household management but he’s really good at organizing what needs to be done. This then reminded me of a conversation we had regarding how there are many service opportunities that people don’t realize are services and it got me thinking.

Is household management a service?

For me the answer is simply yes. Not only is household management a domestic service but it was actually something domestic servants were paid to do. House stewards and House keepers main jobs were to keep the books, order needed supplies, and manage the house staff. Stewards for the most part acted as accountants and keepers often had physical duties with in the house. In the case of smaller homes the cook often acted as the housekeeper. 1 Though household management today would look vastly different than that of a wealthy nineteenth century manor.

For some though, it brings up the question of “isn’t household management the D-types job?” To which my response is not always. Household management consists of various tasks and chores involved with the organization, financial management, and the day-to-day operations of the home.2 Managing the home doesn’t mean that the s-type is making the decisions. They are simply taking the tasks to keep the house in order and bring the attention of the D-type to decisions that need to be made. For example, 840 acts as Devyns accountant. Simply speaking 840 is tasked with paying Devyns bills and informing him when the household needs more money. Devyn is then the one who makes the decision on how to handle that.

By providing household management as a service one is removing a mental load from the D-type. Not only do they then have more time to work on projects but they have the mental energy to do so as well.

In love and leather
Magic

Sources

  1. Servants: Their Hierarchy and Duties
  2. Household Management