This article examines the time spent by urban middle class women in househo
ld work with accompanying subjective states. Participants carried beeper wa
tches for one week and reported their time spent in different activities wi
th their subjective states, when signalled at random times. The findings re
veal that women spend much more time doing household labour than their husb
ands, but they experience choice over these activities and do not experienc
e them as aversive. Women often report feeling hurried, but do not feel les
s in control. Their emotional states neither suggest a high rate of distres
s, nor a high feeling of self-filfillment while doing family work.