Flying into May - Fledglings welcome all as we conquer the clutter

[EversoDisorganised]

Time for the May Fledgling Flylady thread - regulars, returners and newbies are all very welcome, post as little or as often as you like, or just lurk, whatever suits you, but please feel free to ask if there is anything you don’t understand. Also feel free to chat.

Flylady is a system for running a household, it covers housework, self-care and general organisation. It runs on a monthly cycle with the house divided into weekly zones, hence a new thread at the start of each month. Links will be posted here daily, but do go and have a good browse of the website.

www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/

If you’re new to the system, or are wanting a refresher course, the baby steps may be a good idea. Some are more useful than others.

www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/

Each day the website posts a mission (a detailed bit of cleaning or decluttering) for the current zone, but decluttering takes priority.

Then there’s the daily focus - each day of the week has a theme, although switch them round to suit yourself.

Each day I’ll provide the link to the flight plan, which is where you can see what is meant to be done that day (as a guide, nothing is obligatory).

A couple of principles we talk about on here are:

Future Friend - the idea of doing something today that benefits you later, such as choosing your clothes or making your lunch the night before.
Power of Three (po3) - if you’re overwhelmed, just pick three easy tasks - no matter how small - and forget about the rest until they’re done. Then reassess and decide another three.

Finally a few acronyms:
DW - dishwasher, not to be confused with dear wife
LOL - load of laundry, we aren’t finding washing hilarious
WM - washing machine
TD - tumble dryer
BRC - box of random crap

http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Monday 1st Flight Plan. We are in Zone I, entrance, porch and dining room. Today’s mission is to get all the stuff out of the hall that does not belong there. We have to clear ours entirely this month for building work so that is timely for us.

Monday’s daily habit is Home Blessing Hours - quite a challenge to get it done in an hour but a good principle. http://www.flylady.net/d/daily-focus/daily-focus-monday/

Thanks for the new thread ED

More batch cooking here. I am flagging and really got to the dont wanna state but i have stuffs in the half done state so have to.

Thank you for the new thread.

I have done so much decluttering, organising and cleaning over the weekend that the bins are over flowing. Unfortunately our bin day is Monday and didn't factor in that the bin men wouldn't be coming. So DH has had to try and crush the rubbish down this morning so I can fit the kitchen bag in.

Thank you for the new thread ED and thank you for running April's thread as well.

Thanks for the new thread ED and for last month's too. Glad you found your airpod

Mine is often to be found jumping up and down in the bin Pork 😆

Ta-da's:

🏖️ Morning routine
🏖️ Day at the beach
🏖️ Built a shelf unit
🏖️ Decluttered
🏖️ Shopping list
🏖️ Evening routine

Thank you for leading both the threads ED.

I tackled a big pile of post over the weekend. Must continue with this today. Paid vehicle tax by phone very late on Sunday night.

I spent some time on the understairs cupboard, and asked myself why I'm using it to keep spare toilet rolls and similar under lock and key, instead of keeping a laptop in there and using it as a tiny office. So I'm tidying it out today to see what's really in there and where that stuff can go.

Will hoover and sweep this week's zone.

We could do that, thinking about it @Scourgify - we have a corner of our dining room set up as a home office but since we all started using tablets / laptops instead of a desktop no one uses it any more. Also there is a light under there but no plug sockets, but we have asked for some to be put in as part of our renovations. Definitely something to think about, I get fed up with the breakfast bar and dining table being covered in papers and tablets, chargers etc.

Right, back to work today, I think I am going to open the naughty corner and put myself in there as I really haven’t done much except laundry all weekend. We have diverted the water away from the water softener so at least we can use the WM and DW again.

Tuesday - http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Tackle the flat surfaces - clear the clutter off your d ining table <groans> I meant to do that last month and didn’t (we don’t eat at it much to be fair) and now it is covered in piles of DVDs from where I had a clearout last week as well as all the crap that was already there <disappears back into naughty corner>

I WILL DO IT TONIGHT. Please someone nag me this evening.

Tuesday is also planning day.

My dining table has the sock pile of doom on it <sigh> but access is hard as it is blocked in by boxes that are displaced by some current building work.

Batch cooking to be done today, a couple of appointments. I have the nopes and don't want tos. <sigh>

I'm not very familiar with the fly lady, but will hopefully learn as I go along if you don't mind me joining in?
I seem to cycle through letting the house fill up with stuff, then purge, then fill up.
I'm having a purge currently, concentrating on the kitchen.
Motivation currently is due to some disabilities I need equipment which is light and easy to lift.
Every day I focus on one cupboard or set of drawers, very small targets.
Just two of us in the house, why on earth have I got 8 frying pans, 3 stock pots, and a drawer full of Pyrex casserole dishes 😄
Whittled down to 5 frying pans, 2 stock pots, bought 2 pyrex dishes which have handles and evicted all the ones I can't safely lift out of the oven.
I'm down to 4 wooden spoons, from 16, bought an egg slicer only to find I already had one hiding behind my wooden spoon collection 😀
I've only got the cooker to clean now, and sort the collection of roasting tins out.
Then fingers crossed I can keep on top of a daily clean of my kitchen.
I think I need spacious storage for few things, ie if things need to be stacked to store, I'm very unlikely to put things away.
Those of you with cluttered dining room tables say a prayer for me please, long story short I had to move my horses suddenly, and everything from the stables is now in my dining room while we wait for our new place to be ready.
The table is groaning under the weight of stuff, and there's just a small pathway through the room to the kitchen, like one of those houses in the hoarding programmes!

You're very welcome Cherry and will pick it up as you go along.

and everything from the stables is now in my dining room while we wait for our new place to be ready.

The moment when you realise you have enough equipment to stock a tack shop 😆

Loving the new username ED. I'll try to remember to give you a reminder later on about clearing the table

I like the idea of turning the under stairs cupboard into a useable mini room Scourgify. It's ridiculous how much of our homes we give over to storage when you think about it

Hope you can find the motivation to get done whatever you need to Hills

Welcome cherry it sounds like you're making good progress! A little at a time is best. As far as storing things, have you looked into Marie Kondo and the way she puts things away?

We use our dining room table every meal, but we still get mail stacked up there (that's where DS puts it 🤨) I need to wash the tablecloth today though, along with other LOLs.

Scourgify utilizing that space for an office is a great idea! We have space in this house, but not set up well for storage. There's not enough shelving, so boxes get stacked. I'm not going to worry about that too much for now as a lot of what we are storing is DDs! I do have a huge box with a hood extractor fan in it that will be installed, we just haven't heard from him yet as to when he can come over and do that 🙄 he's so busy!

I should probably get moving and start getting things done. Hopefully I'll be back later with some ta das (it's not quite 8am here, so still early)
🍒👋 to everyone

Ta-da's:

🎀 Morning routine
🎀 Tidied living room
🎀 Tidied kitchen
🎀 Met a friend for a cuppa
🎀 Took a walk
🎀 Meditation
🎀 Evening routine

Ta Das:
🦋 sheets washed, dried and back on the bed
🐞 4 more LOLs done, including towels
🦋 vacuumed our bedroom
🐞 cleaned carpet in our bedroom
🦋 vacuumed hallway
🐞 cleaned carpet in hallway
🦋 vacuumed downstairs
🐞 cleaned carpet downstairs (high traffic area only)
🦋 rotated DW
🐞 emptied out cupboard under kitchen sink (our water filter was serviced this morning) & wiped the cupboard clean
🦋 wiped countertops in the kitchen
🐞 bleached both bathrooms
🦋 bleached grout & tile on floor in both bathrooms
🐞 cleaned mirrors
🦋 cleaned front of washer & dryer
🐞 ironed outfit for DS tomorrow, he has a band performance at a difference school (during the day so we're not going to watch)

I'm currently sitting down on the couch, debating on having a glass of wine or mojito (or nothing, I still haven't decided!). DH is cooking dinner tonight so I'm relaxing!

Lugged another storage tub out of the cupboard yesterday, and wondered why on earth I thought to keep the contents. I've always had hoarding tendencies, but the threat of shortages over the past few years kicked them into overdrive. And then every time I try to cut back on the plastic bag categories, I remember my mum washing plastic bags and hanging them out to dry because they were such a rarity. And I put them away again just in case.

And let's not ever think of the cardboard box collection under the attic stairs...

Today I'll get the four remaining tubs out and find out what I'm dealing with.

p.s. I seem to remember some mad stash-and-dash a few years ago where I liked the look of the result but didn't deal with the stash. Maybe that's what happened here.

Erm, well, I didn’t do it (I’d better get back in the naughty corner). I went to work, came home, sat in the garden for 10 mins talking to DH - it’s been so cold we’ve hardly sat out at all yet. Went to the allotment for 1.5 hours, came home, cooked dinner then spent the rest of the evening trying to work out what radiators we need to order, so many choices. The table will get cleared though as we have to dismantle it next week to make room for other furniture when we start the building.

Impressive list there @HungryHazelEyes

@Scourgify I am terrible for keeping things because they might come in handy (and often they do!) but it does lead to a cluttered house which is hard to keep clean and tidy.

@CherryogDog welcome! Sounds like you are doing a great job with the kitchen, little and often. Sympathy over dining table situation <high fives>

Wednesday -

http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60 Flightplan link

Today is anti-procrastination day (maybe I will finally order these radiators).

THe mission for today is to dust our house plants - I took all my downstairs ones to work yesterday to get them out of the builders way, but the one in our bedroom is a terrible dust magnet, I sometimes put it outside on the flat roof when it’s raining to give it a shower but it’s leaves still need a gently rub down from time to time.

Blimey, some of you have done loads!
I had a day off from housework yesterday, I tidied my garden instead, pruning and planting.
I'd forgotten about my under sink jumble, there's not much room under there with the waste disposal and all the pipe work.
Currently if I want something at the back I have to pull loads of stuff out, so I've ordered a little storage thing pulls out, hopefully it will fit (if not I'll use it in my larder).
Something I'm doing around the house/ my life is using things up before buying new, finding products that I like and sticking with them rather than having loads of different things (such as finding 14 pots of saddle soap, some unopened 😳).
I did read the Marie Kondo book, might dig it out and re-read. I couldn't get to grips with vertical clothes stacking, and some of the keeping everything of a category together didn't work for me.
But the psychological aspect really resonated, especially the bit about hoarding being either a fear of letting go of the past, or a fear of the future.

Do any of you feel like you're treading water? I feel like I've got so much to do, but can't start on one thing without tackling something else, and what's the point doing part of a job. My mind whirrs away and doesn't settle.
Ie, my bathroom sink is filthy, it's a 2 minute job, but then I see the dust bunny behind the door (I live in a very dusty village), and the water marks on the shower door, and because I don't want to do the whole bathroom I don't clean the sink.
But as that's the first lesson in Fly Lady obviously I'm already failing 😅

CherryogDog Honestly, treading water would be an improvement in my house atm. Biggest barrier to gettying anything done is my procrastination, and thinking that everything I do gets undone again so quickly that I cba.

The great thing about FlyLady is that you just jump in whenever you can, and do that day's task. If you miss a day, it gets picked up next time round the zones. There is no fail 😀

@CherryogDog totally agree with the treading water / don't know where to start thing. That's where the power of 3 thing comes in. Write down 3 smallish jobs that can be done in say 10 mins each, Do them, do not get distracted, do not get sidetracked into something else. Then have a break, cross them out and write down another 3 if you want to do some more.

I also agree with the buying stuff before you need it problem, I seem to have a fear of running out plus a love of a bargain, so I re-buy if something is getting low and stock up if I see it on sale, also try new things, so I always have far too much cleaning stuff.

However I did Kondo my clothes drawers a few months ago, mine isn't quite vertical stacking but everything is rolled up and placed side by side, I do get a few more creases but it is SO easy to find things and far more fits in the drawers, it gives me satisfaction every time I open a drawer instead of my heart sinking.

Good morning! So far I've done my morning routine and got an extra load of washing on. Then I've wasted a few hours on the phone to my bank as their app has stopped working.

I'm off work today so I'm planning on getting loads checked off my list. The sun's out and it's quite breezy so hopefully I can get on top of the washing pile that's been dumped in DCs room.

@CherryogDog I agree about the treading water feeling. But I do think FL would be good for someone like you because i was the same. I would put off jobs because I didn't have the time or energy to complete them to perfection. I couldn't just wipe down the mirror, sink and toilet without doing the whole bathroom floor to ceiling. And I could never have just spent 15 minutes decluttering and then stopped and left the rest. But if you stick with it then it definitely works. And you find that all the 5, 10 and 15 minutes that feel like they're not enough add up over a week a make a massive difference.

I'm back. Still have old phone but I've downloaded the app so it's a lot easier to use. So glad to read your great inspirational lists and to see that I won't be alone in the naughty corner.

I've not been doung much but I came back to flying with a flourish and I did a full home bleurgh yesterday.

Food shop today and I've hit my monthly mission. There's a community fridge near me. The food has already been given to food banks and this is left overs that is destined for the bin so they just want people to take it. I've been meaning to go for months but I just couldn't coordinate myself but today I've done it on the way to shopping so I'm only getting things on my list anyway.

Last month the mission was to sort out swimmung times and lessons and that's a weekly thing now so these small monthly resolutions are working well.

Another one who feels like treading water or going backwards.
Building work has been going on for YEARS... and is slowly slowly getting to the point where there is an end to the list... But not right now and the list is huge still. BUT: there is no failing and not being behind with flylady and this negative view is actively discouraged. It is all about the baby steps, repetition, and understanding you didn't get here in one day, you wont get it fixed in one day

batch cooking was done yesterday but laundry wasn't so that is being done with the last bit of batch cooking today.
Errands for teen is also on the to do list (careers thing, dropping off and picks up - you know the kinds of thing that is normal for this age group)

i decided that i am going to try to do one act of self care every day. Yesterday's was going to the optician. Today i have a medical appointment to try to fix a thing. Tomo is to book my exams and to go to the bank (not self care in the media type view but the money in the right place reduces worry which is an act of self care, booking the exams is self care as it means i can be done done with this round of study) Filling the freeze with batch cooking is also self care as it stops the brain space being taken up by whats for tea and means i can delegate to others so i dont have to be available at tea time. So like i said not self care in bubble bath shiny nails way but self care in a self care way iyswim.

Going to wish you all productive days and go hang the just finished in the machine laundry whilst i wait for the phone to ring.

@HillsBesideTheSea I love the one act of self care each day idea. I've just recently started to get some nice skin care and I want to put aside some time each day to read.

I've gutted the hallway and landing today. The washing pile is slowly going down. And we have leftovers for dinner which makes my evening easier. DH has just informed me that we have a workman coming round next week to look at the bedroom ceiling so I now need to add that to tomorrow's list.

I feel a bit teary because you're understanding me!
And thank you for letting me join and being kind!
Started off with a migraine so haven't been up to much today.
I did three LOLs, will bring it in shortly.
Opened my new vacuum cleaner (which has been sitting boxed in the hall for a week), ran it round the front room and hall.
Hoping to finish the kitchen tomorrow.