“Committee work is like a soft chair—easy to get into but hard to get out of” is a jocular saying about committees. “Committee work is easy to get into but hard to get out of—like a soft chair” was cited in the 1958 newspaper column “Astro-Guide” by Ceean. “Committee work is like a soft chair—easy to get into but hard to get out of.—Ken J. Shiveley” was cited in a 1959 newspaper.
 
   
30 October 1958, Terra Haute (IN) Star, “Astro-Guide” by Ceean, pg. 5, col. 4:
Committee work is easy to get into but hard to get out of—like a soft chair.
 
7 May 1959, Sioux Center (IA) News, “Others Are Saying,” pg. 3, col. 1:
Committee work is like a soft chair—easy to get into but hard to get out of.—Ken J. Shiveley.
 
13 October 1960, The Graphic (Richmond, IN), “Chuckle-A-Day,” pg. 6, col. 3:
Committee work is like a soft chair—easy to get into but hard to get out of.
 
14 July 1963, Greensboro (NC) Record, “Astro-Guide” by Ceean, pg. A-17, col. 7:
Remember that committee work is easy to get into but hard to get out of.
 
Google News Archive
20 August 1967, Tuscaloosa (AL) News, “Quick Comment,” pg. 1, col. 8:
Committee work is like an easy chair—easy to get into but hard to get out of.
 
Google Books
14,000 Quips and Quotes:
For Speakers, Writers, Editors, Preachers and Teachers
By E. C. McKenzie
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books
1990
Pg. 93:
Committee work is like a soft chair — easy to get into but hard to get out of.
 
Google News Archive
11 February 1994, Nevada )MO) Daily Mail, pg. 3, col. 3:
For Bit of Wit—“Committee work is like a soft chair—easy to get into but hard to get out of.”
 
Google Books
20,000 Quips & Quotes
By Evan Esar
New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books
1995, ©1968
Pg. 157:
Committee work is like a soft chair — easy to get into, but hard to get out of.
 
Google Books
Business Wit & Wisdom
By Richard Zera
Washington, DC: Beard Books
2005
Pg 27:
Committee work is like a soft chair – easy to get into but hard to get out of.