First lady Jill Biden gets things done by delegating.
In a new interview with Real Simple, Biden, 71, shared how she uses Post-it notes to divvy up tasks.
“It started because the Bidens are a big family, and we have a lot of gatherings. And they would all say, ‘What can I do to help?’” she told the magazine's September issue. “And by the time you’ve explained, ‘You get the salad bowl out, it’s in this cupboard, here are the utensils, etc.’ I thought, ‘There’s got to be an easier way.’”
That’s when Biden, an English professor, had the idea to write out clear instructions.
“I do Post-it notes, like ‘Fill the glasses with ice,’ ‘Light the candles,’” and I put them on the cabinet above my kitchen counter,” she said. “Then I put out the salad bowl with the tomatoes or the lemons or whatever needs to be cut, and everything is set up so when somebody comes in, they do what they want to do.”
Biden said it’s a win-win. She appreciates the extra set of hands, and her guests, including young grandchildren, like choosing what they want to do.
“Everybody knows their role. If we get together, it’s at least 13 or 14 and can go up to 30. So I do that for almost every big family dinner now,” Biden revealed. “I do the main. Everything else is up for grabs.”
Post-it notes also play a role in her marriage to President Joe Biden. The couple celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary on June 17.
“If I want to get a message to Joe, I put one on his mirror,” she said. “It maybe a nice ‘I missed you,’ or ‘I hope you get whatever it is you’re working on.’”
The Bidens make time for each other every evening. The one rule is that there are no screens.
“He’s so busy, I’m so busy, but we do keep dinner. We have dinner together, no phones, the phones have to be off," Jill Biden said during an appearance on the "The Kelly Clarkson Show" last year. "We just sit and talk for a while, and then he has to go back to work into the night and I’m grading papers.”
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