Random Chore Generator

Type a number from 1 to 10, press the button, and the random chore generator hands you that many tasks from a list of 218 household jobs. The list is shuffled before it is cut, so one set never contains the same chore twice. Each chore shows up as its own card, which makes it easy to read down the list and assign a name to each one.

It is for households that argue about who does what, for people who cannot decide where to start on a Saturday, and for anyone running a chore-based game or challenge.

What you can set

One thing: the count. The field accepts 1 to 10. There is no filter by room, difficulty or time, and no way to exclude chores you have already done, so if you want a bigger rotation run it twice and merge the results yourself. Every press produces a fresh shuffle.

What is in the list

The 218 entries lean toward real housework rather than novelty. Roughly, they cover:

• Daily and weekly cleaning – wash the dishes, sweep the floor, scrub the toilet, wipe down countertops, empty the dishwasher, vacuum upholstered furniture.
• Laundry and textiles – fold the laundry, iron clothes, change bed linens, wash pet bedding, sort and store seasonal clothes.
• Deep cleaning and maintenance – clean the oven, defrost the freezer, shampoo the carpets, clean behind the refrigerator, remove hard water stains, lubricate door locks, replace burnt-out fuses.
• Yard and exterior – mow the lawn, rake leaves, trim the bushes, clean out gutters, pressure wash the deck, stain the fence, repair driveway cracks.
• Car and garage – wash the car, rotate tires, change the oil, clean out the garage.
• Pets – bathe the dog, trim pet nails, clean the fish tank, clean litter boxes.

Because the deep-cleaning and outdoor jobs are mixed in with the quick ones, a set of five can easily land you "wipe down walls" next to "empty the dishwasher". Treat the output as a starting list, not a balanced plan.

Ways people use it

• Assigning chores in a shared house. Generate one chore per housemate, go around the room, and nobody can accuse anyone of picking the easy ones.
• Chore roulette for kids. Let each child press the button for their own task. The randomness removes the negotiation, and the card format is easy for younger kids to read.
• A "pick three" weekend. Generate three chores and do only those. It is a way of making progress on the long tail of maintenance jobs (gutters, window screens, chandeliers) that never make it onto a normal to-do list.
• Forfeits and dares. Losing a board game means pressing the button once and doing whatever comes up. The Random Activity Generator is the friendlier version when you want a reward instead of a penalty.
• Reset when you are overwhelmed. When the whole house needs doing and you cannot choose, a single random chore is a reasonable place to begin.

Turning random chores into a fair rotation

Random is not the same as fair. Two things help. First, decide the size of a "turn" before generating: one chore for a weeknight, three to five for a weekend. Second, pair the output with a quick time estimate. Most of the daily-cleaning entries take 5 to 15 minutes, the laundry and pet items 15 to 30, and the maintenance and outdoor jobs an hour or more. If one person draws "clean out the garage" and another draws "water the plants", either swap or let the garage count for the week.

For a written rotation, generate ten chores at once, paste them into a spreadsheet, and rotate the names down one row each week. That gives everyone every job eventually without anyone having to draw up the list by hand.

If you are after something to do that is not housework, the Random Hobby Generator or a random topic is a better fit, and the Random Thing Generator covers objects rather than tasks. This page sits with the other decision pickers under all fun, party & decision tools.