October Flying - lets get those Fledgling nests cosy

[EfficientlyDecluttering]

Welcome to this long running thread, a lot of posters have been here a long time but all newbies and returners are very welcome, do join us!

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - there are too many of them.

There are Baby Steps for starting out, add one thing at a time to start good habits and routines.

There are 5 zones in the house that we will rotate through, don't worry about finishing it all this month, it'll come around again next month! Flylady is NOT about perfectionism! You may need to adjust the zones to suit your house.

Habit of the month of October is paper clutter http://www.flylady.net/d/habits-of-the-month/october/

Daily missions: each day of the week has a different mission.

• Monday: Home Blessing (or as we call it, home bleugh)
• Tuesday: plan & play
• Wednesday: anti-procrastination
• Thursday: errand day
• Friday: clean car & purse out and date night (which can be anything you make it, night in, night with friends, actual dates are not always going to happen)
• Saturday: family fun day
• Sunday: renew your spirit - again whatever you make of it, but it is time just for you.

Common acronyms we use:

• LOL: load of laundry (washing is certainly NOT funny!)
• DW: dishwasher, we are not rotating wives by any means, although an extra pair of hands could come in handy sometimes 😆
• LMS: lose/lost my shit
• DNLMS: did not lose my shit

I will try and update the links every day, but they do update automatically on the website so you can just click on the ones in this post.

Apparently the app is very useful too, I am going to try that this month, I know some are already using it.

Links are below 👇

Launch Pad : http://www.flylady.net/c/lp.php - this is the main hub of Flylady, you can find links to most of the useful info here, including the Daily Flight Plan.

Direct Link to Flight Plan here http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=-60

Zones: www.flylady.net/d/zones/

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

Morning, hope you are all having a relaxed Saturday. Today is meant to be family fun day, so a bit of a break from the routine stuff. I am going out with a friend later, DH is going for a cycle ride and DD is going to work, so we will be having Non-Family Fun.

Just going to read back through and catch up with what everyone’s been up to.

Welcome @Bornlazy , yes, we are a realistic bunch when it comes to housekeeping, many on here have factors such as neurodiversity in the family, health conditions, caring responsibiities etc which means we can’t maintain super high standards and struggle with the organisational side of things. That is one of the nice things about Flylady, you can always jump in wherever we are and it all comes round again every month. No Fledgling Left Behind is our motto.

@DitzyDaffodils and @SingToTheSky I fell into that trap of leaving things because they weren’t that bad for many years (and still do sometimes) which has resulted in areas of permanent damage (black mould on grouting that I just can’t shift etc). Or the feeling of panic when someone comes round because the bathroom needs WAY more than a quick wipe down. So I am trying to get more on top of it all now. Less clutter REALLY makes a difference too but again, it is hard getting things clear if you have years of accumulated crap. Just tackling one small area at a time on the clutter front and then keeping them clutter-free is where the discipline comes in, I have made huge steps forward with it this year (perhaps because I have more free time since DS went to uni and one less person creating mess). I managed to declutter for years up to a point but it always came back, now I am militant about removing anything I see out of place in the areas I have properly decluttered.

I must tell you the next part of my swapping summer for winter wardrobe tale. You know the other day I said I had put all my summer clothes away under the bed and got my jumpers out. Well, I was going to hang up the jumpers and in the wardrobe but it still looked full despite the removal of about 10 dresses and a few linen trousers etc, so I thought I’d have a sort out as it was all higgledy-piggledy. I decided to rearrange it in categories, dresses, trousers, skirts, tops, cardis and put all the spare coathangers at one end. I thought there would be maybe 6 spare hangers at the most as I can never seem to find one when I want one.

15 minutes later I had a neatly ordered wardrobe with loads of free space and 46, yes 46 spare coathangers on my bed. Honestly I was shocked. This is only a 1m wide wardrobe. They had all hidden themselves in amongst the clothes. I will be keeping some but I am going to try and take some back to the shops they came from and see if charity shops want the rest (no one else in the house needed any).

Tada!

🐈fed cats
🥛fetched milk in
🍽️ put on dishwasher
👚put on washing
🧺hung out washing (possibly optimistic)

☔️fetched washing back in again within 10 mins of putting it out 🙄

Thanks ED 💐 it’s the discipline of keeping areas clear that we really struggle with - a clear area is never clear for long! I think it just gets lost in the house still being a mess overall and so nobody sees the point, I don’t blame them in a way. Mind you, H is by far the worst culprit so I’m hoping when he moves out it’ll be a little easier!

I do wish I could have a couple of weeks just on my own in the house though - it’s so hard to sort anything properly with everyone else around. But it’s just occurred to me that while I couldn’t find anything affordable for this half term when I looked recently (before I decided to ask H to move out), we could look now for something in February half term. Obviously he will have the DCs over at his when he’s moved, but he will only be able to afford a small place so sending them all there for a week is unlikely to work!

Anyway, tutorial was great, I want to crack on a bit more now.

po3.3
❗️Move charity bag downstairs with the others before it gets too heavy, then add more stuff until it’s full
❗️Rearrange Cagletini’s Kallax a bit to fit a basket in
❗️Free up the bedding bag as I now have three drawers to arrange sheets/duvet covers etc in

Will also get DS to strip his bed and wash his bedding.

To clarify, I meant finding a little trip away to a holiday park or something - I took them all (plus DD1’s boyfriend) on similar in July when H was working and we loved it TBH it was a big moment to realise I didn’t need him as much as I thought and I was thinking if he does similar then I’ll get a substantial break in my own home where I can spend several days sorting stuff.

I definitely don’t want to delay sorting things until February but if I have that to look forward to I can plan how to use the time most effectively with lots of projects and lots of relaxation, having friends round etc

Today is going well! My room feels hideous because there are many bin bags of rubbish (not food stuff obv, so it can stay until bin day - we don’t have foxes here but I’d still rather not put it on the floor if there’s no space in the bin), and bags/boxes of random crap (BRCs). But I need to not focus on what individual spaces look like right now and just focus on getting as much ready to go as possible.

po3.4
❗️Put laundry away (just one load and some towels) and make sure DS puts his bedding in the dryer
❗️Arrange skip hire with H
❗️Use old blanket box in hallway to collect other stuff for skip

Thanks for welcomes. Inspired by the thread I got up, got dressed and did some essential chores. I feel that getting dressed early improves my mindset and makes me more productive. The main problem I have is I have too much stuff! I can't just put things away I need to search for a space. I could throw half my house in the bin and it would still be full 🙈

TaDa

💜 Got showered and dressed early
💜 Fed cats
💜 LOL folded and distributed to relevant people
💜 LOL washed and hung up around house to dry. This is where I use my excess coat hangers as I don't have a tumble dryer so I hang as much as I can on hangers. Works well but I do get sick of seeing it.
💜 Dishes washed
💜 Downstairs swept and surfaces wiped
💜 Bathroom cleaned slightly more thoroughly
💜 Top up shop done and put away (my least favourite thing to do as cupboards overflowing)

House looks presentable if you don't delve too deep so I'm happy and feel I can relax more but it's never ending really. I'm going to think about the boys doing their own laundry. Maybe they'd wear something for more than 3 hours before throwing it in the wash if they had to wash it themselves.

I feel like laundry is such a major part of chores and it's about way more than clothes. You could always have rules for the laundry Born if energy consumption is a problem, like nobody being allowed to do a half load, so they'd have to ask everyone else for some things to put in if they only had two items they wanted to wash. There's nothing wrong with expecting budgeting and teamwork skills as well as laundry skills. It'll teach them to be organized and make decisions that aren't always about instant gratification too, with when to wear things or get things washed so it's ready for when they really need it. Also to respect others clothes and not trash them

Who knew hangars could hide like that ED? I don't use them but I wonder how many of us unknowingly have this problem

Hope you can get yourself that week alone Sing. Never underestimate the time taken clearing others messes, once DH is living elsewhere I'm sure you'll find it a lot easier and gain a few hours per week

My day got off to a slow start

Ta-da's

🍋Morning routine
🍋Tidied medical cupboard
🍋Tidied corner kitchen cupboard
🍋Found and de-cobwebbed baking stuff

To-do

🍊Gardening
🍊Clean car
🍊Write letter
🍊Bake cake
🍊Exercise
🍊Evening routine

Hi all, I vacuumed today which was a plus, hasn’t been done for a couple of days. Laundry hung up last night. Swept the floors and wiped the surfaces today as well. I relaxed a lot too, thought I was coming down with a bad headache but maybe it was just the stress I’ve been feeling

Sing that sounds like a really good plan re holiday. A skip arriving soon is definitely good motivation to sort through stuff too.

ED that's a lot of extra hangers and so much space will be saved now! I actually invested in some really nice matching velvet hangers (they really weren't that expensive) and they make my wardrobe look so much neater and organised.

born I agree with having the DC help with laundry. My DS (14) has been doing laundry since he was 10. DD taught him earlier than I wanted, but he does a good job. She wanted to pass that chore onto him, clearly! He now does 1 LoL a day other than my days off. He keeps it going, does everybody's laundry and I can do the extras (bedding, towels, whites etc.) on my days off.

Ditzy what cake are you baking? You've had a productive day!

cat stress can be an awful thing! I hope your headache lifted.

Ta Das so far (almost 2pm here):
👻 cleared most of the laundry room, ready for the painter on Monday
👻 cleared DS's room (his skirting boards and door frame still needs to be painted)
👻 cleared main area of pantry, ready for painting
👻 vacuumed main floor
👻 put away clean LOLs
👻 3rd LOL in washer
👻 bathed dogs
👻 showered & dressed
👻 currently on our way with the camper to get it winterized so nothing freezes in the tanks

@HauntingHazel yes, I mainly use velvet hangers, they are brilliant for gripping the clothes, so I am keeping all those, the ones that I'm getting rid of are all plastic ones from shops.

Aren't they the best for keeping clothes on them?! I think I donated all my shop ones to the charity shop when I did the switch.

Welcome @Bornlazy
I had a mad frenzy on Thursday before my trip to see family. Washed everything in my laundry basket, washed dog beds, hoovered every room and washed the hard floors.
Did a drum clean cycle and cleaned the filter.
I wish I could have predicted the weather, torrential rain at home and poor DP is having to manage looking after the horses and dogs, coping with flooded paddocks and changing rugs in the gales.
He's definitely earning a lot of brownie points at the moment!

I am just plodding along with routines here.
Ditzy you don't use hangers? That sounds like a lot of folding.
ED that's an impressive amount of hangers. I keep meaning to switch all of mine to look the same, like Hazel, but I didn't get around to it yet. I'm making do with my mish mash of shop hangers, bought plastic hangers, and velvet ones. And can never find a free hanger when I need one.
Maybe once we move house, that might be a good opportunity for it.

Saturday
🦗sorted some charity shop donations
🦗gathered and put out recycling including some incomplete board games
🦗packed up a bit more stuff for H
🦗uni tutorial online
🦗tidied up a few toys
🦗gathered lots of rubbish
🦗packed away the clean bedding and got rid of a couple more sheets
🦗gathered stuff for skip in hallway (most stuff is broken up furniture that is waiting in the garden but we want to make the most of it!)
🦗put laundry away
🦗booked skip
🦗put up DD1’s new whiteboard (so she can write homework on there) and a couple of Cagletini’s favourite art prints in their bedrooms

Tempted to do some more but I am tired and have a headache so I’m going to quit while I’m ahead.

I am really happy to have booked the skip - I’ve been procrastinating for ages, even since getting a saving scheme payout which meant we can easily afford it, it’s just something new and new things that require admin etc = big anxiety for me. But I have conquered that 💪

It’s arriving Monday afternoon, so I’m thinking until then I need to focus on bagging up more stuff to chuck in. Lots of little bits and pieces that I don’t take the time to declutter because I’m always wary of creating too many bin bags at once (the binmen are pretty good and take extra bags, but there must be a limit and I feel guilty!) - now it doesn’t matter if I have huge bagfuls of stuff waiting because they can go in just a couple of days! That feels really liberating TBH so I hope I can make the most of it tomorrow. I might see if H can take Cagletini out for a while so I can tackle the living room as it’s really hard to when she’s around!

Then once the stuff is in the skip I should still have a couple of days to switch the focus to cleaning the main areas ready for my friend, although it’s Cagletini’s birthday midweek and I’m not sure what we are doing during the day.

Yes Elf everything is in drawers, no hangars here. Although I have found some I need to get rid of. Goodness knows how many times they've moved home with me! You can have them if you like? They're not velvet though, just plastic but they all match. I'll give them to a charity shop if not

I didn't get round to the cake today Hazel but it'll be a sponge with poppy seeds in

Good idea bagging everything up in advance for the skip Sing

Definitely not the weather for non-horsey folks to be wrangling horses Cherry bet he's cursing you lol

Ta-da's

Planted spring bulbs
Weeding
Decluttered
Evening routine

Well done on actually booking the skip Sing it does sound limitless on what you can achieve, compared to normal anyway.

Ditzy DS is the same, he uses his drawers only, even though he has a built in wardrobe, he's so used to folding his clothes into outfits (down to socks and underwear), that whenever I've asked him if he wants to hang them instead, he looks at me like I've just asked him for his kidney! He didn't have that option at our old house so he's doing what he's used to.

Cherry your DH must need a gold star for stepping up while you're away ⭐️

Morning 👋

I like the idea of folding clothes into outfits hazel that’s another level of organised!

I appear to be the only one awake so I’m not going to get on with anything yet. I should probably do uni work, or even some work work (as I didn’t quite finish my hours this week) while it’s quiet but I’m sleepy 😴

I need to try and make a plan for later today though.

po3.1
❗️Towel LOL
❗️Discuss plan with H and DD1, and wake DS up
❗️Get all remaining books and games out of landing cupboard and sort through them on the bed

Today will need to be one of those days where I’m on at everyone all day to make sure shit gets done.

Oof. Overwhelm thoroughly setting in, the house is noisy and chaotic! But I feel a bit better having arranged some time alone later (although I need to use some of that to sort some stuff in the living room)

po3.2
❗️Gather last bits into another charity bag
❗️Towels in dryer and more towels in wash - I don’t know how we get through so many?!
❗️Lunch and Netflix

^ needed to schedule in some relaxing because I’m getting too caught up doing stuff!

Right, the others will be home fairly soon so I need to actually achieve something in the living room while I have the place to myself!

po3.3
❗️Grab a few bits and put them ready for the skip (big pile in hallway)
❗️Empty a box for H’s stuff and at least pack his books into it
❗️Fill a bin bag

Yes that's it Hazel, I find mix and match takes too long so I do outfits. I don't wrap up the underwear though, I KonMarie'd my underwear drawer a while back and now it's a thing of beauty and I can see at a glance what I need

Last night's fun
🌚🛌💤
🌃🌌🌄🏠
🥵👃🧐💦⚡💥🔥😱
📞🚒🔋📴
📱💥🔥😳🤯😱
🏃🚪🏚️😰🥺😓
👁️👁️🏠👀🏘️👀🏡👀🤔
🔦👀🛁💻🛋️📺🛏️ 🚫🔥 🥴
🙄🧠💫🤦
🤫🛏️😴💤

I used to do outfits in ziplock bags with the DCs for Scout and Guide camps. It wouldn't work for me, I am definitely a mix and match person but I KonMaried my tee shirt, vest and joggers/leggings drawers at the start of the year and have kept it up, it makes a huge difference. I put an outfit out for myself the night before on any day when I have to be out of the house fairly early (which is most of them as I work outside the home). My sock and knicker drawers were also Kon-Maried but have got a bit messy again lately and need re-doing.