“Stop trying to solve everyone else’s problems.”

That’s the best advice author Brenda Peyser (she/her) has ever received, and is also the topic of the book she co-wrote with her friends, The No Club: Putting a Stop to Women's Dead-End Work.

Here, Brenda explains what “office housework” is, why women feel obligated to do it, and how to put a stop to it (or at least get paid for it).

What exactly is “office housework?”
The term we coined for this unrewarded work was “non-promotable tasks” or NPTs, for short. NPTs matter to the organization, but don’t benefit the person who does them. Office housework, like cleaning the kitchen, organizing a party, or unjamming the copier constitute small tasks that are non-promotable, but the work is much bigger than that. NPTs also include things like adding content to someone else’s presentation, handling a low-revenue client, or resolving office conflicts. A study by McKinsey and LeanIn found that 87% of the organizations surveyed said that tasks that support other employees’ well-being (like ensuring workloads are manageable) are important to the company, but only 25% of those organizations reward the work. NPTs are really important to the organization’s good functioning, but they won’t bring you praise, a raise, or a promotion.

Why do women feel more obligated to do these tasks?
One of the most important findings from our research was that we all expect women to take on these tasks. Women are almost 50% more likely to volunteer for an NPT and, again, almost 50% more likely to say yes when asked. Why? Because women can face negative consequences when they say no or feel guilty for upending expectations. Saying no is hard because you’re bucking a culture that has existed for a very long time.

How do we say “no” when asked to do “housework” around the office?
There are a few good options for reducing the possibility of backlash: Suggest someone else who could benefit from the task. If you’re asked to organize a conference session, you can say, “This sounds like a really important training module for the junior sales staff. I am the co-lead on the new product launch and all my time for the next 2 quarters is devoted to that. I don’t want to short-shift the training session, so I need to decline. But Mike just finished a big project and should have the time. He would have a lot to offer and would do a great job.”

Another thing you can do is propose a fair solution. If you’re asked to take meeting notes you can say, “I can do this today, but how about we take turns from now on? I’ll pass around a sign-up sheet for everyone to take a week.” Or you can suggest drawing names from a hat. Turn-taking and random drawing are so obviously fair that it’s hard for anyone to object.

The last thing to do is negotiate. You can say, “Is it possible to get resources (a budget or another staff member) to help with a task? The charity fundraiser will be much easier to manage with a committee assigned to it. Gathering all the addresses is something a temp can be hired to do, freeing up the members to focus on the bigger tasks.”

If we want to be rewarded with stuff we actually care about, what should we do?
Ultimately, our organizations’ leaders need to institutionalize how to allocate and recognize NPTs. Some NPTs could become promotable, included in performance evaluations, and formally recognized. Others might come with a one-time reward, like a gift certificate to the person who organized the charity fundraiser or covering expenses for a training conference for the person who wrote a big report. Organizations should learn what employees value and create a commensurate reward system. It’s important to note that some NPTs will always be just that, work without reward, but if that work is distributed equitably, it will no longer be a burden just for women.

What’s your fav tip from the book?
I’m totally biased here; start a club. The advice, friendship, and support I got from ours are simply priceless in every aspect of my life.