为家事累垮自己是得不偿失。一切以“不劳累”为原则。 - 吉泽久子，生活评论家
“Exhausting yourself over household matters is simply not worth it. Make ‘not overworking yourself’ the guiding principle in everything you do.”
— Hisako Yoshizawa, Lifestyle commentator
也许对许多人来说，家里打理的一尘不染是理所当然的。我有个旧同事从年轻开始从事家居清洁服务可以说是专业的家政妇，她说只有当家里乱了的时候，人们才知道平日有人在做家务。每个主妇的工作量都不一而论。家务的多寡端看个体的要求。个人认同日剧《月薪娇妻》里，女主角对男主角说的：“既然是生活，只要能活下去就可以了。” 所以，像折衣服这种能不做的家务，我绝对不会做。个人认为只有不把时间花在没有负面后果的家务上，我才有时间学习新的技能自我增值。我没有打算像麻理惠那样把衣橱整理的像展示柜。当然我也非常希望自己可以像她那样地整理自己的家。(￣▽￣;)
除了减少家务，个人觉得善用可以节省时间的烹调方法也非常重要。智能快煮锅真的大大地节省了烹调食物的时间。煮一锅根茎类蔬菜满满的螺丝粉或者鸡腿根茎类蔬菜咖喱只需要三分钟（水煮沸后算起）。以改变饮食成功减去125磅并把自己的食谱写成《Instant Loss》一书的作者，Brittany williams说她用一台高速搅拌机加上两台智能快煮锅来解决一家五口一日三餐的问题。此外，日本主妇喜爱的手拔料理（手抜き料理）和蒸笼料理也是省时省力却又兼具营养和美味的料理方法。这是我学日语后最大的收获之一。
除了提高料理的效率，减少晾衣和清理地板的时间也是使家务便轻松的方法。所以，经济条件允许的话，投资一台烘干机和抹地机也可以节省不少时间和精力。
吉泽久子说她的丈夫是个封闭的女性主义者，他支持女性就业却不爱做家务。真巧，外子也是。 所以我决定像吉泽久子看齐，一切以不劳累为原则，好好的活下去比较重要。(｡> ∀ <｡)
The amount of housework varies from one homemaker to another. How much needs to be done depends largely on each person’s own standards and expectations. Personally, I identify with what the female lead says to the male lead in the Japanese drama We Married as a Job (The Full-Time Wife Escapist / Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu): “Since it’s life, as long as we can get by, that’s enough.”
So, when it comes to chores that can be skipped without any real consequences, such as folding clothes, I absolutely won’t do them. I believe that only by refusing to spend time on chores that have no negative consequences when left undone can I free up time to learn new skills and invest in myself. I have no intention of turning my wardrobe into a showroom like Marie Kondo. Of course, I do wish I could organize my home as beautifully as she does.
Besides reducing the amount of housework, I also think that making good use of time-saving cooking methods is extremely important. My electric pressure cooker has really cut down the time I spend cooking. A pot of pasta loaded with root vegetables, or chicken-and-root-vegetable curry, takes only three minutes to cook once the water has come to a boil.
Brittany Williams, the author of Instant Loss, who successfully lost 125 pounds by changing her diet and later turned her recipes into a book, said that she uses one high-speed blender and two electric pressure cookers to prepare three meals a day for her family of five.
Japanese homemakers also love 手抜き料理 (tenuki ryōri)—literally, “shortcut cooking”—as well as cooking with bamboo steamers. Both methods can save time and effort while still producing food that is nutritious and delicious. This has been one of the biggest benefits I’ve gained from learning Japanese.
Besides making cooking more efficient, reducing the time spent hanging laundry and cleaning floors can also make housework much easier. So, if your finances allow, investing in a dryer and a floor-cleaning machine can save quite a bit of time and energy.
Hisako Yoshizawa once said that her husband was a “conservative feminist”: he supported women having careers, but he didn’t like doing housework. What a coincidence—my husband is exactly the same. So I’ve decided to follow Yoshizawa Hisako’s example: make avoiding exhaustion the guiding principle, and remember that living well is more important than exhausting myself trying to keep everything perfect.