If tidying your home is your New Year's resolution, Flying with us could be the solution

[ToffeeWhirl]

Welcome to the January Fledgling Flyers' thread. A very big thank you to BlueEyeshadow and IceColdBitch for guiding us through the busy Christmas month.

Are you living in CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)? We know the feeling. We follow Flylady's routines, which aim to help you take control of your home, tidying and decluttering and setting up daily and weekly routines that keep your home looking presentable. We also chat quite a lot and swap tips on coping with housework and mess.

From the first of the month, we will be following Flylady's tips on restoring order to our homes. There are three methods, depending on whether you are new to the system or have been following it for a while:

1. Babysteps
2. Babysteps + 15 mins daily decluttering in current zone
3. Babysteps + daily missions

Following the babysteps helps to establish daily routines and build a weekly plan.

If you are overwhelmed by the mess in your home, start with just one thing: shine your sink.

Oh, and don't - really, really ^don't^ - sign up to Flylady's emails.

The first babystep will be posted on 1st January 2012.

Happy New Year.

as a newbie i dont know if this is allowed but i was talking to n elderly neighbour yesterday about sink cleaning.she recommended a mixture of lemon juice and bicarbonate of soda to make a paste then use that to clean stainless steel sinks/drainers.leave for 5 mins then rinse and buff.i have just tried this and it really works!!!!!!!!!

OK - I'm in.

I need serious help, My main problem is hoovering and dusting, not forgetting ironing (in which me pile has really, really multiplied) and I also need to seriously de-clutter.

I do have a shiny sinks though - so thats one thing!

liveinazoo - i think sometimes the method of cleaning needs to be adapted but i do think the fact that is not just about giving it a quick wipe around and leave the taps, drains etc neglected is important. half done job doesnt have the same satisfaction iyswim.

Yeah i know its 8am 1st jan and i am still up. so fucking sue me. night is not over until i pass out.

Changebags depending on the day my house is the same, I swear!

We can do it. This is our year! :)

Morning.
How many FLY threads are there on the go at the moment?
Which one do I join?
Which one was I on?
I go through phases of this.
Although I have my control journal and I do my morning, afternoon and before bed routines, most days I don't make it to missions or detailed cleaning.
If I did all that, I wouldn't have time for anything else!
Is it better to spend 15 mins on my own detail list or do the missions

Sink is shiny!

loads of threads silvery. seems that the fly lady system is rather popular and seems to work for people. I suggest you stick to the one in your threads am on then you wont get lost in the clutter of threads

Oh and missions or detailed cleaning not both. and if decluttering then decluttering not missions. iyswim. cant clean clutter so have to get rid of that first. cant deep clean something that you arent on top of tiyding/basic cleaning wise.

Thanks Ice I was on a thread ages ago but kind of fell of it when I returned to work in September.
Just this morning, I've seen this thread and the fledglings one in active convo. You appear to be on both, which is why i was a bit confused as to which one is current iyswim!
I don't do clutter, so that's fine, don't need to worry about that, on a monday in a new zone I just do a quick sweep round and look for anything I might not LOVE anymore and make sure everything is in it's right place. I also spend 15mins on a sunday making sure all stray items are in their homes.

I`m in.
Have been doing flylady on and off for ages.
Need to make it work this year and spend less time online!
Off to tackle kitchen......

Happy new year!

So today I'm shining my sink. Something I've never done before . Shall report back later.

what can i say. i am a thread tart pm'ed ya silvery.

I am new to this but keen to make a start! The house is a tip and full of stuff - off to clean my sink once I have cleared the pile of things still in it!

Hi! Can I join too?

I like the fact that all I have to do today is clean the sink!

Can I join too? I am generally hopeless at keeping this kind of thing going, but am determined to get out of CHAOS - such a familiar feeling and not a good one...
The sink is clear and shiny(ish) - just don't look at the rest of the house!

I'm not doing the whole babystep thing again every day this month either.
My sink is shiny, I can manage to keep up with that bit, so I will shine it again before I go to bed but am not doing the whole bleach soak for an hour.

I really want to get on top of this ironing too.

newbie here signing in for duty.

Off to shine sink

Good morning, and Happy New Year.

I am going to shine my sink and wake my children up. I love a quiet morning, but back to school on Tuesday is going to be hell if I don't get them back into a daytime waking routine.....

Can I just say a word to the new-to fly-people?
This is not a quick fix. It took a fair time to getfull of clutter/in a mess, and will take time to sort out, but doing it this way helps you build routines and habits which will keep on top of things and gragually improve it. Spending one or two days madly cleaning and then giving up will have very short term results (and is quite depressing).
Don't go mad -just do the babysteps first and the rest will follow, I promise

It has taken me a long time to get where I am, and even now, the windowsill next to me contains:
a tape measue
phone
tissues
socks
camera
mug
2 yrs old christmas card made by ds
felt tip pen
mascara
dps work name badge

BUT that is one of only a few hotspots - at one point, every surface in the house was like that.

I'm posting everywhere hee hee

broom I had never ever made my bed before (another babystep another day) before joining here 2 years ago. Now I barely miss a day!

Happy New Year.

Good morning. I made it to 4.30 last night and dc had an impromptu sleepover at nannys.

My list

Get up
Finish tidying clubhouse (think confetti party popper cannons x 5)
Shine my shine
Quick tidy round at home.
Walk round nature reserve if dc not too exhausted!
Chinese with inlaws

Have a lovely new years day.

OK I need to do this too. Am away from home but will shine sink when I get home tonight. 2012 must be my year for decluttering or will drown under the mountain of stuff. Good luck and happy new year everyone :)

Silvery I think the idea is that you do the whole bleach for an hour caboodle the first time because your sink is so awful, and after that it only needs a quick wash everyday to keep it shiny.

If you've already started then there's no need to limit yourself to the babysteps, but I find reading them again each month helpful because I haven't managed to make everything part of my routine yet.

I am accepting SAHM status (was supposed to be back at work by now, but things still not going to plan ). Rather than sit in a seething pile of resentment at state of the house, I have decided to embrace old-style traditions and become a supreme house manager.

If it's okay, I will join your fly lady thread? Last time I attmepted this was through MSE about eighteen months ago. I got as far as writing a list .

I cannot start today though as I am not at home.

The housekeeping revolution begins tomorrow.

Morning all. I have shined my sink ( polishes halo for jas).

So far have also:-
Taken all xmas decs down
Tidied kitchen
Tidied/cleaned dining room

Still to do:-
Put living room back together
Sort washing
Tidy whole house

The grand plan is that we are going to our bf's for lunch and i want to be all spick and span for then so i can come home and collapse. Also want to relax on final day of holiday tomorrow.

Have a lovely new yeara day everyone!

Sink done - a huge thankyou to whoever suggested lemon juice and bicarb! Amazed and at the result!

Marking my place. Going to need lots of support!