Documentation

What's a chore?

In Flow, a chore is something that needs to get done regularly around your house. This can be frequent things like doing the laundry, or less regular things like changing bedding or giving flea treatment to the cat. The key thing is that they repeat on an ongoing basis and are never "done" in the sense that you won't have to do them again - like that pile of washing up by your sink.

Repeating chores

When you define a chore, you need to decide two things. The first is how often you want to do the chore. The next thing you need to decide is how this time period interacts with when you complete a chore.

For some chores, for example paying a bill which is due on the 1st of each month, you want the next occurrence of that chore to be scheduled for 1 month after the previous scheduled time, regardless of when you actually complete the chore. In this case, select since it was last scheduled when you create the chore.

For other chores, for example putting the dishwasher on, you want the next occurrence to be scheduled relative to when you last actually did the chore. Say I usually run the dishwasher every 2 days, but am on holiday for a week. When I mark "put the dishwasher on" as complete when I get back from holiday, I want the next occurrence to be scheduled 2 days from now, not 5 days ago. In this case, select since you last completed it when you create the chore.

This behaviour is inspired by org-mode.

Rescheduling chores

When you complete a chore, Flow will automatically choose who should do the chore next time it is due. If only you can do the chore, you will be assigned next. If more than one person can do it, Flow will randomly choose a person from the available people, but not the person who just did it. This helps chores to be distributed evenly among household members, while keeping things interesting by giving you variety in the chores you personally have to do.