- Reducing mental load for your partner is not just about when you're in the house. It's also when you're out of it. I have to leave for a conference for six days. And that means my partner is going to have 100% of the child responsibilities and the household responsibilities. And she says she doesn't mind, but I know it's a lot. So here are some simple things I'm doing now to help her later while I won't be here. Earlier, I vacuumed the house, so she can start with clean floors, washed and folded all the laundry so that she can start with no clothes. That did not come out the way I intended. After I put our oldest to bed, I'm going to do the dishes, so she can have clean dishes. Since I usually pack our toddler's lunch, I pre-packed parts of it so it's just grab-and-go in the morning. And since she's going to have to wrangle both kids in the morning, I put together five outfits for our toddler. By the way, for the partners watching this who don't usually put together outfits for their kids, it's not that simple. It's not just about what matches or looks nice together. I looked at the weather report to base out these outfits, like, Wednesday is a light shirt and pant because it's going to be warm and it's not going to rain, so they'll be out on the playground. Friday will be cold, so a heavier pant, long sleeved T-shirt, and a sweatshirt. And I booked to a hotel room for her so she can have some time to herself after I get back. I'm not trying to grandstand. These are small things with big impact.