When fantasies abound about slavery they often go something like this:

The slave is always nude, chained or caged waiting for the Master to decide what to do with them. They make no decisions themselves, the Master declares that he will tell them when to eat, sleep and piss. The slave has no mind of their own and they are only for their Master’s whims.

But talk to at least one consensual slave and you will learn a far different story. Being a slave is work, you don’t always have clothing on but there are still chores to be done, work outside the home to do, family to raise and life to lead. And yet, many slaves are micromanaged in some ways at least some of the time.

What is micromanagement?

Micromanagement is a training style where the Dominant has the deciding enforce on a lot of the minute details of a submissive’s routine. Submissive’s in these dynamics tend to enjoy having every step of a process decided for them, from how they are to wear their hair, to how they are to prepare coffee. Often there are a lot of rules and limitations to the submissives “freedoms” like going to the bathroom, eating, drinking, social habits (drinking, talking on the phone, internet usage) and other daily activities.

The other management style is macromanagement. It’s often used in business environments. A boss gives you a task and doesn’t care how it gets done as long as it is. You are given free reign to perform the task in any way you see fit and then report back with completion.

Micromanagement isn’t for everyone

In many situations, the idea of having everything decided for you and having a list of rules and required permissions to obtain sounds horrible. It’s not an easy training style to take to and is a “pain in the ass,” to quote KnyghtMare, to maintain. I and froggy are both into some level of micromanagement. I love rules. I thrive when I know the exact boundaries I have and the repercussions if I cross them. Some of the micromanagement that I currently have I came up with. I’m a glutton for punishment I guess.

Would I Like to be Micromanaged?

It’s a good question. To know if this sort of thing might be a preference, think about how many rules you would like to have or if you enjoy the idea of not making decisions on what you wear or what you eat for meals. Do your submissive thoughts line up with having less independence and more obedience to your Dominant’s wishes? Then you might like to try micromanagement.

Please note that micromanagement is very taxing on a Dominant. There are few Dominants that I know willing to do a lot of micromanagement. What is often the case is that they will pick one area of your life to manage in that way and the rest will be more free-form or relaxed.

Even if you have a curiosity for it, you could try it for a weekend and decide then. Micromanagement doesn’t have to be an all the time thing, you can use it for weekends or events or even just evenings after the kids are in bed. As with everything about this lifestyle you can customize it to work for you.

What do you think about micromanagement? Is it something you have an interest in? Micromanagement gets a lot of negative response, why do you think that is?

Interesting Links

  1. Micromanagement Works for Me
  2. Could Micromanagement Work for You Too?
  3. Micromanagement Values and Potential in D/s Relationships