72 Things That Are Responsible

John Spacey, May 31, 2023

Responsible things are actions and inactions that demonstrate an appropriate level of care and consideration with respect to your roles and duties. We all have basic duties to others such as civic duty to our society. It is also common for people to take on various family, community, institutional, organizational and political roles that create more responsibility. The following are illustrative examples of responsible things to do.

Reuse & recycling	Conserving resources
Conserving energy	Working
Paying your taxes	Paying your bills
Saving money	Volunteering
Supporting local businesses	Voting
Political participation	Being honest
Planting trees	Donating to charity
Reducing waste	Following reasonable norms
Being polite	Considering the feelings of others
Supporting others	Helping people through problems
Not making excuses	Doing homework
Studying	Being on time
Calling when you will be late	Canceling with sufficient notice
Showing respect	Not wasting time
Trying to be reasonable	Trying to control negative emotions
Not complaining	Earning trust
Being consistent	Being reliable
Admitting to mistakes	Apologizing
Forgiving others	Self-discipline
Managing risk and avoiding excessive risk	Taking steps for safety and security
Trying to be understanding	Showing compassion
Being true to yourself	Being careful with money
Avoiding procrastination	Trying to be a good friend
Not gossiping	Responsible parenting
Caring for a loved one	Meeting commitments
Meeting deadlines	Asking for extensions in advance if you will miss a deadline
Being nice	Showing restraint in social media
Sharing	Cleaning up after yourself
Keeping promises	Listening with intent to understand
Practicing good manners	Environmental stewardship
Thanking others and showing gratitude	Eating well
Maintaining your health	Being a responsible pet owner
Showing up prepared	Complying with reasonable rules
Contributing to community life	Being friendly
Trying to avoid biases and harmful stereotypes	Being respectful of differences
Maintaining peace and civility	Working to resolve differences and conflict in a reasonable way

Due diligence is the practice of putting the expected level of research, attention to detail and care into your work.

Responsibilities can overlap and conflict. For example, the responsibility to meet a deadline at work and to be a supportive parent can conflict due to time constraints. In the real world, responsibility is about trying hard -- you will have limitations, make mistakes and fail. Having your heart in the right place and showing effort can make you responsible even where you aren't perfect.

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