How to Manage To-Do Lists and Household Chores in SimpliHome

Every household has two types of things that need doing.

One-off tasks: Book the boiler service. Order Tom's birthday present. Call the letting agent. Reply to that email.

Recurring chores: Vacuum. Empty bins. Clean bathrooms. Mow the lawn. Do the laundry.

SimpliHome handles both — shared to-do lists for one-off tasks, and a weekly chores schedule for the recurring ones. And because everything is shared across the Circle, everyone knows what needs doing and who's responsible.

#Part 1: To-Do Lists

Go to Lists in the navigation to see your household's to-do lists.

#Understanding Lists

SimpliHome supports multiple lists — you're not limited to one big task pile. You might have:

• Household — shared tasks for the home
• Shopping — items to buy (can be separate from the meals shopping list)
• Garden — seasonal and ongoing garden tasks
• Admin — paperwork, calls, appointments to make
• Holiday Planning — tasks for an upcoming trip

Each list has its own set of items. Your Circle's default list is the one that quick-add shortcuts (like the dashboard) use by default.

#Creating a List

1. Go to Lists
2. Click New List
3. Give it a name
4. Toggle Send Reminders if you want email nudges about items in this list
5. Save

#Adding Tasks to a List

1. Open the list
2. Click Add Item or type in the quick-add field
3. Enter the task description

For more control, use the full task form:

• Task name — what needs to be done
• Priority — Low, Medium, or High
• Due date — when it needs to be done by
• Assign to — which household member is responsible

#Assigning Tasks to Household Members

When you assign a task to someone, they receive:

• An in-app notification telling them they have a new task
• An email notification (if enabled in their settings)

This makes task delegation explicit — rather than "can you remember to..." followed by it being forgotten, the task lives in their list with a notification.

To assign a task:

1. Open the task (tap the task or a detail icon)
2. Set the Assigned To field to the relevant person
3. Save

The task now appears in their tasks view and they're notified.

#Completing Tasks

When a task is done:

1. Tap the checkbox or tick beside the task
2. It moves to the completed section

Completed tasks stay visible (so you can see what's been done) but are visually separated from active items. Toggle Show Completed on the list to show or hide them.

#Prioritising Your List

Use priority levels to communicate urgency:

• High — needs doing today or urgently
• Medium — needs doing this week
• Low — whenever there's time

Sort the list by priority to see the most urgent items first.

#Favouriting a List

Mark frequently used lists as favourites for quick access — they'll appear at the top of your lists view.

#Part 2: Household Chores

The Chores section is a weekly schedule for recurring household tasks. Unlike one-off to-do items, chores happen every week and are assigned to specific people for specific days.

Go to Chores in the navigation.

#How the Chores Schedule Works

The chores view shows a 7-day grid (Monday to Sunday). Each day has chores assigned to household members.

Example week:

| Day | Person | Chore | |-----|--------|-------| | Monday | Mum | Laundry | | Monday | Tom | Tidy bedroom | | Tuesday | Dad | Bins out | | Wednesday | Emma | Unload dishwasher | | Thursday | Everyone | — | | Friday | Mum | Vacuum downstairs | | Saturday | Dad | Mow lawn | | Sunday | Tom + Emma | Bathroom cleaning |

#Adding a Chore

1. Click on a day in the schedule
2. Click Add Chore
3. Type the chore name (or select from previously created chores)
4. Select which household member is responsible
5. Save

Chore autocomplete: As you type, SimpliHome suggests chores that have been created before in your Circle. This keeps names consistent — "Vacuum" rather than "Vacuuming", "vacuum downstairs", "hoover", etc.

#Copying a Day's Chores

If you want to repeat the same chore setup on another day:

1. Look for the Copy Day option on a day with chores
2. Select which day to copy to
3. Confirm

All chores from that day are duplicated to the target day. Useful when multiple days have identical routines.

#Editing and Removing Chores

• Edit: Click on a chore to change the assigned member or the day
• Delete: Click the remove/delete option on a chore item
• Clear a day: Remove all chores from a specific day at once

#The Philosophy of Household Chores

The chores section works best when it's a family agreement rather than one person's wish list.

Getting buy-in:

• Discuss the schedule together before setting it up
• Make the distribution visibly fair
• Let people choose their preferred chores where possible
• Review and adjust monthly — circumstances change

When everyone can see the schedule (not just the person who maintains it), accountability is built in. "I didn't know I was supposed to do that" stops being a valid excuse when the chore schedule is shared and visible.

#Lists vs Chores: Which to Use

| Situation | Use | |-----------|-----| | Something that needs doing once | To-Do List | | Regular task that repeats every week | Chores | | Needs a due date or priority | To-Do List | | Assigned to a person on a specific day | Chores | | Shopping or project planning | To-Do List | | Cleaning, garden, household maintenance routines | Chores |

The two systems complement each other. Chores handles the regular rhythm; lists handles the irregular.

#Using the Dashboard for Quick Adds

From the Dashboard, Family members and Admins can quick-add tasks directly to the default list without navigating to the Lists section.

Click + Add Task on the dashboard task panel, type the task, and it's instantly added. For basic task capture, this is the fastest route.

#Notification Settings

Control task notifications in Settings → Notifications:

• Task assigned to me — notified when someone assigns a task to you
• Task list reminders — weekly summary of open tasks on lists with reminders enabled

Most households find task assignment notifications useful; weekly reminder emails optional but helpful for accountability.