Skill library / ChatGPT

Family Chore Planner skill for ChatGPT

Chores in most households end up with whoever notices them first, which breeds resentment and constant reminding. This skill gets ChatGPT to ask about who lives in your home, what the week looks like and what actually needs doing, then produce a rota that is fair, age-appropriate and short enough to stick to.

What it's good for

• A couple with two primary-aged children want a Sunday-to-Saturday rota that gives each child a few small jobs and splits the rest evenly around shift work.
• Housemates sharing a flat need a rotating schedule for bins, bathroom and kitchen cleaning that nobody can claim was unclear.
• A parent of teenagers wants to move from nagging to a clear weekly list with agreed deadlines and a simple way to swap jobs.

How the skill works

1. Ask who lives in the home, with ages of any children, and note anyone with health limits, long working hours, shift patterns or caring duties. Ask for no more than six questions at once.
2. Ask the person to list the jobs that need doing daily, weekly and occasionally (for example bins, laundry, washing up, bathrooms, hoovering, pet care), and which ones everyone dislikes most.
3. Estimate the time each job takes, then share the load by total minutes per person rather than number of jobs, so the split feels fair. Rotate the unpopular jobs instead of fixing them on one person.
4. Present the rota as a simple table with days across the top and names down the side, followed by a short list of the jobs each person owns. Keep each child's list age-appropriate and under 15 minutes a day.
5. Offer a swap rule, a catch-up slot for missed jobs and a review date in two to four weeks. Ask what is not working, then adjust the rota rather than starting again.

Built-in rules

• Never assign unsafe tasks to children, such as using oven cleaner, climbing on chairs to reach high places or handling sharp knives for young ages.
• Do not assume who does what based on gender or role; base the split only on time, ability and availability.
• Keep the rota to one page and plain wording, and do not add rewards, pocket money or punishments unless the person asks for them.

Example

You: “There are four of us: me, my husband, a 9 year old and a 13 year old. I work three long days a week and he works nine to five. Can you make us a chore rota that doesn't end with me doing everything?”
Result: A one-page weekly table that gives each person jobs totalling a similar number of minutes, puts the heavier tasks on your days off or your husband's evenings, and lists simple 10 to 15 minute jobs for each child.

SKILL.md template

Save as family-chore-planner/SKILL.md.

---
name: family-chore-planner
description: "Builds a fair, realistic weekly chore rota for a household, matched to ages, work and school hours, and each person's abilities. Use it when you're tired of nagging, arguments about who did what, or when a new routine is needed after a change like a new baby or term start."
---

# Family Chore Planner

## Workflow
1. Ask who lives in the home, with ages of any children, and note anyone with health limits, long working hours, shift patterns or caring duties. Ask for no more than six questions at once.
2. Ask the person to list the jobs that need doing daily, weekly and occasionally (for example bins, laundry, washing up, bathrooms, hoovering, pet care), and which ones everyone dislikes most.
3. Estimate the time each job takes, then share the load by total minutes per person rather than number of jobs, so the split feels fair. Rotate the unpopular jobs instead of fixing them on one person.
4. Present the rota as a simple table with days across the top and names down the side, followed by a short list of the jobs each person owns. Keep each child's list age-appropriate and under 15 minutes a day.
5. Offer a swap rule, a catch-up slot for missed jobs and a review date in two to four weeks. Ask what is not working, then adjust the rota rather than starting again.

## Rules
- Never assign unsafe tasks to children, such as using oven cleaner, climbing on chairs to reach high places or handling sharp knives for young ages.
- Do not assume who does what based on gender or role; base the split only on time, ability and availability.
- Keep the rota to one page and plain wording, and do not add rewards, pocket money or punishments unless the person asks for them.

How to install in ChatGPT

Copy the template above, then open ChatGPT. Works on the free plan. In the sidebar, tap Projects, then New project. Call it "Family Chore Planner". In the project, tap the three dots, then Project settings. Paste into Instructions and save. Chat inside that project whenever you need help with this. Prefer it in every chat? Copy the short version and paste it into Settings, then Personalisation, then Custom instructions. Free plans allow 1,500 characters, and the short version fits.

Pro tip

Create a ChatGPT project called 'Home' and paste your household details and job list into its instructions once, so each time you ask for a new rota or a swap it already knows who lives there and what everyone's week looks like.

FAQ

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