- First Lady Jill Biden uses Post-it notes to delegate tasks at big family dinners and gatherings.
- "It started because the Bidens are a big family, and we have a lot of gatherings," she told Real Simple.
- "If we get together, it's at least 13 or 14 and can go up to 30," Biden said of a typical family dinner.
First Lady Jill Biden's method for delegating tasks and keeping things on track at family gatherings? Post-it notes.
"It started because the Bidens are a big family, and we have a lot of gatherings," Biden explained in an interview with Real Simple. "And they would all say, "What can I do to help?"
In the time it took to explain to a dinner guest what needed to be done and where the bowls and utensils were, Biden would think, "There has to be a better way."
"I know my meal and what I'm going to serve, so 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 explained. "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."
The Post-it method, she said, allows her guests at big family functions to pick their own tasks and ensures "everybody knows their role" and where to find things.
"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. I do the main. Everything else is up for grabs," she said.
Biden also told Real Simple that she uses Post-it notes to keep herself on task and give herself reminders at work — and sometimes leaves notes for President Joe Biden too.
"And if I want to get a message to Joe, I put one on his mirror. It may be a nice 'I missed you' or 'I hope you get whatever it is you're working on,'" she says.
"You can't do anything in a haphazard way," Biden added. "You have to have purpose while you're doing it, and it has to be organized. That's the key to it."