Organized Living in a Shared Apartment

With increased availability of various career & recruitment options, more and more younger lot is shifting towards metros and big cities. Sharing apartments between 2-3 (sometimes even 7-8) people, is an increasing trend, it proves to be quite a feasible option as a)it reduces the overall cost of rent-A-place & b) it provides a feeling of security to the newcomers from small towns.
As with every practice this one also has got positive as well as negative aspects, if on one hand it teaches you to be accommodating with others, it can be hard to organize well in this chaotic environment. It requires a lot of efforts and understanding from each and every person in the group to contribute to the group’s efforts of organized living.
Following suggestions may help you to overcome lil’ nuances of shared living
a)like any other team work this also requires
Assigning tasks
Planning
Executing
Follow-up
Correcting & improving
a) four main committees are to be made to streamline majority of the work
Food committee
Cleaning committee
Finance committee
Cloths committee
Equal no. of members is to be included in every committee. While forming the committees for a particular week we have to give consideration to the time available with individual member, as all the members are working/studying. The member who is relatively free can be placed in that chore committee which has heavier duties to perform.

b) Members of different committees have to discuss who will take up which job, committees will be made for a week and next week new group will replace the existing committee. Within a comm. Also jobs will be assigned on rotation basis. So it will not be like everyday only member A is cooking or only member B is doing the task of cleaning and likewise. Now this was the assigning task.
c) Next is planning, proper discussion within the committee will lead to a clear understanding as to what tasks are there on hand and how to carry them out, without putting in too much of time. Eg: how much and what veggies are to be cut, how many chapattis are to be made.
d) All the members have to stick to the plan and execute it as per the schedule, suppose if cloth committee has decided that in the morning all members’ clothes which are to be washed have to be collected at a common place and are to be segregated acc. to colors then all cloth committee members have to execute this chore as decided.
e) Follow up is the key for the success of any project, here also daily follow up of all the work done will lead to the successful execution of the weekly plan.
f) Productive analysis (of the work done) at the end of the week will be helpful in taking corrective measures and in improving the effectiveness of the plan.

Now we sum up the works required to be done by different committees. In this kind of set up it is a normal practice to take help of maid servant/cooks/laundry etc. As it is based on pool and pay system main jobs of all the committees will be managing them.

FOOD committee should first of all make a weekly menu accordingly groceries should be bought for a week, perishables should be bought on daily basis if fridge is not there, if there is plan for ordering from outside for a particular day that also should be included in the budget. Everyday in the morning cook shd be guided that what and how much is to be prepared. If self cooking is to be done then extra time in the morn shd be reserved for that and before leaving food committee should ensure that needful has been done for evenings also. it is their responsibility to take care in the night that leftovers have been stored safely and no wastage is there. Maids should also be given hint in the beginning itself that no carelessness will be tolerated and everything is being watched carefully.

CLEANING committee has to prepare the weekly budget of phenyl, detergent, odonil, duster, broom etc to be given to the finance committee. They have to clean and organize the common area of the house. Members will make up their own beds apart from that everything in the bedroom is to be cleaned up by them, thrice a week extensive toilet cleaning has also to done. Bathroom has to be cleaned up by detergent on daily basis. Keeping the garbage out in the night is also their area of work. Kitchen is also to be cleaned up by them after the cooking and storage work is complete. Maids are to be given clear instructions about dusting, brooming and wet cleaning; one member has to get it done in his presence.

CLOTHES committee has to make weekly budget of toiletries and laundryman and it is to be given to the finance committee. They have to take care that clothes are being circulated on daily basis. Soaking, washing, drying, ironing and folding is being done regularly and laundry person is taking away the clothes after proper counting, if you are leaving your clothes with the watchmen for him to take away from there, a register should be maintained in which you enter the no. of clothes and he acknowledges of receiving and delivering same number of clothes. Kitchen clothes, dusters etc also require proper cleaning so take care of them also.

FINANCE committee has to create a common fund by pooling equal amount of money from all the members. Now their main task is reviewing all the committee’s budgets and arranging things for them, they have to make payments to the helpers on monthly basis so first finance committee of the month has the responsibility of assigning money for that purpose also. All the common home bills are also to be paid from that amount only. There should always be a contingency fund for emergency purpose.

Though it seems to be a very extensive task, but apart from initial planning nothing is very difficult. Stay of all members can be converted in to a memorable, learning experience by adopting the method.