I was amused–and a wee bit skeptical–when I heard about this study finding that people who do more housework–men and women alike–have more sex.
But when I read this analysis on the Wall Street Journal blog “The Juggle”, I found myself nodding my head. This part in particular resonated with me:
“The researchers say the results are evidence that some people – not all – are high achievers who approach life with a “work hard, play hard” mentality, drawing energy from activity in one realm, such as job or home, to invest in other areas, such as marriage.”
That’s definitely true for me. It’s like exercise…the less I exercise the less energy I seem to have for working out…or anything else, for that matter.
The longer I go without putting energy into a project–whether it’s blogging or a yoga practice or dancing–the less likely I’ll be to pick it up again.
When I have a ‘lazy night’ and hit the drive-through rather than cook something, it’s that much harder to summon up the energy to cook the next night.
And as I’ve written before, the more energy I pump into different areas of my life, the more I seem to be able to juggle and the better I feel overall.
Energy begets energy in my world. So I guess I don’t find it that surprising that a couple that hits the bed after a rousing post-dinner clean-up session would be more juiced up–and energetic enough for sex–than a couple who sat in front of the TV or on their computers after dinner.
What do you think? Do this study’s results surprise you? Have you noticed that if you put energy into one area of your life, you have more energy for other areas?
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
If my husband helped more with the housework, damn right he’d get more sex!
For me, it’s about finding the middle. If I’m too stressed or overworked, then I don’t concentrate on other aspects of my life as much. If I’m really lazy (like watch TV all day…not that that’s happened in a long time), then I’m tired. When I have the perfect balance and the star are aligned, then I feel like I can do anything.
The hilarious thing at our house is that the scarcity of time for a tumble, (if you know what I mean, has kind of made it more exciting when it does happen. Our kids are around so much (what with the 3-month-old often being awake at our bedtime) that it’s almost like being in high school and sneaking around.
I’m a pretty new reader here, but my first thought when I read that was that if my husband helped me with cleanup, I would feel loved and invested in, and he would certainly find himself with better odds!
I just read a book on how kids change marriage (my first is due in… woah… 5 weeks now). And they totally stress how the desire to have sex is directly related to how put together the rest of your life feels. And how for many moms, the hottest thing on the planet is the sight of her husband cleaning the house. I DOES make women feel loved and invested in. And, well, we all feel more like having sex when we’re better rested, and if the house is put together, we have less to mess with, we sleep more and we feel a little more like getting naked. I don’t know that it’s so much about using energy giving you more energy. It’s about the give and take of a relationship (both partners helping around the house) and feeling relaxed (stuff’s cleaned and organized, it’s time to rest and do fun stuff instead).
In our house energy begets energy as well so I’m right there with you on this one.
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