A big thank you to slackcabbage for superb thread leadership throughout June, as well as a great intro which I am going to shamelessly borrow from now.
Struggling with C.H.A.O.S. (can't have anyone over syndrome) and S.T.U.F.F. (something that undermines family fun)? In that case, you need Flylady.
Flylady is a system for managing housework. Starting with babysteps, it builds up into a routine which becomes second nature. In theory, once you are used to the system, you will have a tidy house you are not embarrassed by and plenty of time to get on with more interesting things.
Flylady banishes the panicky "rabbit in headlights" feeling when you are overwhelmed and everything needs doing all at once. If you fall off the Flylady bandwagon, it’s no problem: you just jump back in where you are and carry on.
Don't sign up for the Flylady emails as you will be inundated! All the information you need will be linked here on this thread on a daily basis.
From the first of the month, Flylady's steps and routines will be listed here on this thread.
Flylady uses a three-pronged approach (dependent on the stage everyone is at):
- start or repeat baby steps
- repeat baby steps + do 15 mins a day decluttering in the current zone
- reinforce babysteps and do daily missions if you have finished decluttering.
(And detailed deep cleaning in each zone for those who have made real progress – not sure if anyone has reached this pinnacle yet…? I certainly haven’t).
More info here on getting started (but ignore step one!) and Flying lessons. Here's the launch pad for more experienced fledglings.
Try to ignore Flylady’s purple prose (hard, I know) - the underlying system is sound!
Three key points to keep in mind:
- No perfectionism allowed - this is harder than you would imagine.
- You are never behind - just start where you are and anything you do is progress.
- It didn't get into a mess overnight, it won't get tidy overnight - accept it will take time to get on top of things and you will be happier.
If you are new, then trying to spend 15 mins decluttering and doing the babysteps is the most you should expect of yourself. Lots of us here like posting our ‘to do’ or ‘ta da’ lists and they can look quite scary. Don’t be put off.
If all else fails, try the power of three – just pick three things that most need doing and focus on those.
And if you have visitors coming over this afternoon and need a quick fix NOW, try Flylady's crisis clean.
We all know each other pretty well on this thread and some of us have been around for a long time, but all lurkers, oldies and newcomers are very welcome!
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). She managed to juggle three children’s needs with a lot of Flying today, but wisely delegated dinner to DH. 
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. (DS1 has broken a finger and possibly a toe in the past (not at the same time, fortunately) and was in so much pain both times, so I sympathise.) Hope the throbbing toe feels better by tomorrow.
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]. Glad you had a brilliant trip to London!
Anyway fobbed ds2 off with a Spanish phrasebook from ds1's defunct homework shelf and he spent most of the car journey reading out nouns to me (he learns French at school not Spanish btw 
But sorting the rug out has killed my back so pain killers and no more furniture moving is going to be key