What used to be simply a source of childhood allowance may now be the cause of much conflict between college roommates. There’s a reason your mom made you do chores growing up, you will be doing them for the rest of your life.

Chores were simple when I lived with only one roommate – if she vacuumed, I did the dishes. If I cleaned the bathroom, she knew it was her turn the next week. However, when we added a third roommate this year, it became harder to divvy up chores in a way that was fair to everyone.

After tip-toeing around a sink full of dirty dishes and a couple weeks of noticing the empty garbage without ever actually changing it myself, I knew I had become the dreaded chore slacker.

Upon coming home to my roommate creating a colorful grid on a piece of paper — I knew there would finally be cleaning harmony in our apartment.

She was creating a chore chart.

Chore charts may bring up scarring memories of gold stars on a poster-sized chart hanging on your childhood refrigerator.

Regardless, it is a simple, logical way to organize chores and keep your apartment spick and span.

Especially if you have multiple roommates, chore charts can eliminate conflict because, frankly, you can’t hide from the glaring “bathroom” tally next to your name.

All you need is a piece of paper and writing utensils. You can use bright colors for decoration or a thick black marker for emphasis.

The easiest way to create a cleaning schedule is by making a row for names and column for cleaning duties — or vice versa. Then, every week, place a tally next to the chore after it has been done.

Dividing chores by room makes it easier to keep track of who does what. Since my apartment is a small three-bedroom without any fancy extra rooms, our chore chart is divided by bathroom, kitchen and living room.

While this all sounds pretty simple, you will learn fast — as I have — that the real trick to chore charts is sticking to them. It’s easy to keep up with the charts at first, until the semester progresses and one roommate gets behind on their weekly duties.

This means more cleaning for the next person, and hostility is sure to follow. It’s also important to keep in mind one thing: just because you are on vacuum duty one week doesn’t mean you can wash your post-Kam’s feet in the tub without facing the wrath of the bathroom cleaner.

The trick to being a good roommate is being respectful, but also open-minded. Everybody has different cleaning habits, so you can only expect so much. Chore charts will help you lay down the law in your apartment and keep things fair.

_Jordan is a junior in Media._