+++++thursday FLY: throw away 27 things from living room+++++

[asleep]

mission

yes, pretty much.

Each day -

shine your sink.
declutter current zone.
do daily mission. (today's is 27fling boogie)

as each zone comes around you'll find the decluttering gets easier and the jobs you need to do become more like 2nd nature.

I have also written a 'task list' for each zone which i work through that week. as i do the job i mark it off.

i've only been flying a couple of months, and have just had a baby. have lapsed in the last few weeks but have a good excuse

Oh sorry Lazylou........

I do actually fail to point out thatI am actually a closet control freak. I think I have issues way beyond housework...I like things to be in order, it makes me feel safe. Dh very rarely does housework as I get irritated by how he has done it and have to do it my way anyway (he puts glasses up the wrong way round in the cupboard and things)

Please don't let my list put you off....I'm probably quite extreme!!!!!!!!

It also helps if you keep on top...if you know what I mean...have a place for things and put them back. I have a toy box and a magazine box in the living room so things can get put back very easily.

Sorry........really didn't mean to alarm anyone
(I'm very good at going OTT so I apologise)

and get dressed every morning.

and do 2 mins hot spots - like a pile of cra that needs sorting -spend twomins twice a day

Thanks girls! Well, the water is now hot so I am off to wash up, dry up and put away before shining that sink, by which time load of washing number 3 can go on!

What's the hot spots thing then?

i think it is a pile of stuff - the place where you put hte post, mags, papers, kids leters. Take 2 mins twice a day to sort

The hotspots....In my house it is the cornershelf in the kitchen where all the mail gets shoved
Its also on the mantlepeice where money, keys etc gets unloaded
The dressing table, where toys, books earbuds etc get put when no-one can find anywhere else to put them.

Hotspots just are place where things pile up and get out of control quickly!

i think I am going to get my kids doing this as well.

2 mins twice a day and 15 mins a week

hotspots are just an area of crap that has been there for ages. Spend 2 mins each day clearing it.

You'll also hear about the 'weekly blessing' - stupid name. Supposedly for an hour every Monday but I do one job every day.

weekly blessing

hotspot & 5 min room rescue & mission

27fling boogie

weekly zone

how to declutter

detailed cleaning list

...and yes, i know the flylady website well enough to knock those links up very quickly

OK, well the hot spots in my house are the computer table (it's me that contributes the most to this mess, what with uni stuff all over the place), the shelves above the computer (again, loaded up with all my uni and work stuff) and the useless bit of kitchen counter that always get cluttered with crap.

Am I allowed 3 hit spots??!

Thanks satin for those links. Spent ages trying to find some of that information!

I have about 3/4 hotspots

I don't do the homeblessing thing....the name is too cringeworthy and I don't usually have time to do it all in one go.

my comp table is one too...

at the moment there is:
A pair of dd2 slippers
Camcorder
Screwdriver
Batteries
A CD
A plastic Teapot from dd2's kitchen
A lamp
A vase with Potpourri in it
And a Harold the Helicopter!

The Mantle piece:
Three candles
Two Pine cones
Some Benylin and a bottle of Ibuprofen and a plastic spoon
A pen

The Side board:
Felt tips
Vase with pepples and twigs in it
Pot Pourri
Big Pot Plant in big Pot
Cat Toy

It will only take a few mins to put the things that shouldn't be there away...
Its just finding somewhere for the bits to go!

batteries and screwdriver have actually been there for a while...as dh was doing new toys from xmas but I'll put them back in the toolbox under the sink in a mo.
Toys can go back upstairs...kids do this for me
Felt tips live in the middle drawer in the kitchen...they can go back too

I had better get off here now!!!!!

I would rather have your computer table ludaloo! At the moment, on mine is...

empty box of day nurse/night nurse tablets
4 empty cigarette packets
an ashtray
a camera
half eaten packet of crisps
cup of tea
ipod
salt pot
hole punch
pencil case
lighter
various bits of uni paper
a hair clip and hair band
a rubber
a stapler
oven gloves
stereo
balamory magnets
empty mini roll wrapper

See, I told you I was a desperate case

Lazylou...I'm sure once you have sorted things into "places" and got on top of the main clutter it will all start to fall into place.
I have a cupboard upstairs with Big Ringbinders, Plastic Sorting Trays, Cardboard trays (Office supply places do these very cheaply) Which all my Old Uni coursework, books, files etc go in.
Al the Household bills/ paperwork etc Also goes in this cupboard in files and clearplastic folders...when a bill or something comes, it gets pinned on my kitchen pin board until it has been payed/dealt with then it gets filed (well put on the corner shelf until I do my Hotspots!)

Its really just more like treating your home like you would any other job....just try getting small bits sorted and organised.

Am I helping or am I annoying???

ludaloo - very good stuff. I have a study at home that is now a giant hotspot - no idea where nayhting is - that is the place to file and sort and would makemy life som uch easier

interesting to see other people's routines. i've got a list of daily, weekly, monthly ones.

Helping!! Please carry on. Like I said, I am a nightmare for all things domestic, partly because I hate it and partly because I'm not very good at time management!

There's all these things I want to get done, particularly before I return to work next week but to be honest, I can't see me getting there. I tend to spend a whole day clearing my house, but it is generally filing things in the bin or under the bed

I went mad just before Christmas and even did skirting boards, which was a first for me because I never realised they could look so horrid.

I have been lurking around these FLY threads for a couple of weeks now, trying to make some sense of it all because this is something I really want to get sorted out. Things like the grout in the tiles in the kitchen and bathroom get me down now.

So here's hoping I can at least knock a hole in it before next week!

no no no...thats not sad....

It just all needs to go somewhere.

Get a basket/stackbox/cardboard box and put the toy bits in it and keep it in the living room.

Desky type things and stationary....another box...or put them under your comp table (does it have cupboards?)

You could get a waste paper bin...or an old plant pot does the job...and put it down the side of the comp table for all the rubbish...
Either that or keep some plastic bags shoved down the side of your harddrive or something, then at the end of the day fling all the rubbish it a bag and stick it in the bin.

Dh has an ashtray on the comp table too...but I move that every morning to wash...he retrieves it when he gets in from work. (A good tip for Ashtrays.....Clean it out...dry it and spray furniture polish in it...it helps to stop the ash sticking to the tray and is easy to just tip the contents out)

Your not the only one honest....you just need to train yourself to just put things away...it then becomes habit when you've done it enough!!!!!!

I felt positive this morning now i'm feeling shite again! So much to do/want to do and no where to store anything.No money to buy any storage boxes.
I don't know where to start.or how to do a routine. Anyone would think i was new to this thread! I think ive just been hanging around more for the chat etc than the cleaning!
What a useles shite i am! Maybe i should just give up.

My list would involve 2 children and a pile of DVD's and toys so I will leave off for just now. I will be flying again once Hogmany is out the road and New Year resolutions kick in .

ooooooohhhh Tort.......
sorry me and my big mouth AGAIN!!!!

You don't need cash for storage solutions..honest. Get cardboard boxes from supermarkets etc. Cut the fronts off them to make tray/organisers. You can also put wrapping paper around them if they have to go out on shelves etc.

Kitchen storage is easy... I buy washing capsule in platic containers...I put all sorts in them! Dishwasher tablets, Hair bobbles, money......you name it they are really useful.

Oh Tort...Sorry

Right, I know its getting late now but this is my plan of action.

Having just done 3 loads of washing, washed up, picked up the various bits and pieces from the living room floor, I am now going into DD's bedroom, digging out her toy box, emptying the broken/things missing pieces/baby toys into a bin, dragging it back into the front room and sticking it in the corner for her to put all her stuff into at the end of the day.

Once I have done that, I am going to put all my wshing up away and shine that flippin' sink and then I am going to tackle my hot spots before hoovering and heading off down the pub.

Sounds like a plan!

Don't give up Tort! We can be novices together!