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 all,

So, for those of us new or returning to flying, a good place to start is here

http://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/ it covers all the basics. It is also worth scrolling down to the site map and having a browse there, Flylady has all sorts of hidden extras that we don’t tend to touch on here (as well as a lot that I suspect I will never read).

Today’s Flight Plan is here http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=360

We are in zone 1, the entrance, porch and dining room, our mission is to clean the entrance area up, shake the mats out, sweep the floor, wipe down the door.

The October habit of the month is dealing with paper clutter, the advice from Flylady is here, even in these days of online banking, newspapers etc, it does still seem to creep in here. http://www.flylady.net/d/habits-of-the-month/october/

Hazel my DD1 would be jealous too! 😍

YesTaDa
😶‍🌫️walked to town
😶‍🌫️swim and steam
😶‍🌫️bought a couple of pairs of trousers and a cardigan for work
😶‍🌫️hand washed stuff
😶‍🌫️nail care
😶‍🌫️DLMS with dryer for still not having dried Cagletini’s stuff

So not the most practically successful day but it felt good to look after myself and my stuff (hand washing is not something I bother with often). I also went to bed early and got about 8 hours of sleep.

po3.1
❗️Breakfast, water, vitamins
❗️Clean Cagbunny litter and give her hay etc
❗️Shower and hair wash

Morning 🌄 everyone 👋
At last I have some TaDas! My front room has been vacuumed, dusted and wiped, cushion covers washed, and the horizontal surfaces cleared of all the bits and pieces that had accumulated over the last 3 weeks.
It's all on the dining table and kitchen worktops now 🫣, I have unsuccessfully tried the Slob CC method before, I prefer to heap everything together and then sort when chaos descends.
4 LOLs, but I still haven't put my last load away.
Today's ToDo is clear/clean the downstairs hall, and if I've got any energy left start clearing up the dining room.
Happy Flying everyone.

@SingToTheSky I don't often use my dryer (because I'm too tight lol), but I always LMS over it, it's a fancy schmancy one with loads of programmes and none of them dry the clothes, wish I'd kept my 2nd hand Beko, with one dial for temperature and one for time.

Morning! Anniversary jollity was great fun, and Muse were really good. Only downside was that we got back just after midnight and I am NOT used to being up so late these days! <old gimmer emoticon>

Today my "sick leave" runs out, so I am back on my head. Po3:
🛀 wash and dress to shoes, hair and face
🐕 walk hound (balloonhound? That makes him sound like a party trick! 🤣)
📄 morning routine

Welcome @JewelleryCat and @HouseorHome, it's nice to have others along with us.

🍒👋 for the new week everyone!

Just found this thread. Today it's one bag of children's clothes from granddaughter to charity shop. Got loads to go but go by bus so it, l have to be bit by bit.

Welcome beaver!

I still haven’t moved to get on with my power of three, despite being hungry. Partly awkwardness as H is back from walking DS to the station, and partly laziness… 😳

Insomnia kicked my ass last night. And i have woken with a thumping headache. i also need to pick a fight with DS about college which i really cant be bothered with. The to do list is horrific as always, and as is common atm i have no idea where i want to start.

power of 3:
coffee
clothes for leaving house
breakfast.

Not done much today, only vacuumed some cobwebs up that I saw. I felt like I needed a day off before restarting again. Do any of you do that?

Just got in from work - tired and feet ache a bit (only did 6K steps but job involves a fair amount of standing), so what I manage now will all be bonus.

PO3 for this evening is

💫Clean downstairs loo
💫Go for a walk to get steps up (ideally to 10K+)
💫Healthy dinner and make lunch for tomorrow...might have to go shopping to facilitate that though! Maybe I should walk to the shop...

I think that is all I'm going to manage realistically...we'll see.

Many times @JewelleryCat ! I'm only now just trying to get into the swing of fly lady again though. I'm aiming to do something every day that isn't a perpetual (dishes, laundry, tidying, spot clean) but really it is my day off (I have one a week) that needs I need to really get into this - I usually barely make it past the perpetuals and as my youngest is now 19 so I feel guilty about even keeping the day off (absolutely zero intention to change it though!!) as I get so little done...

Yes Home I’ve felt guilty about taking today off because of what I need to do but I don’t want to get burnt out and then I won’t be able to carry on. I’m trying to do something every day but it’s usually my usual stuff that I’m doing every day atm, vacuuming or cleaning surfaces etc. Maybe I need a bit more motivation

Cat today was my 'day off' from cleaning! I literally just did the load of laundry and rotated DW. Living room is a bombsite (I am the only one who cares about tidying the toys away..), there are 3 loads of dry laundry waiting to be folded and put away, nothing done in zone cleaning. Half of home Bleugh was done yesterday, second half will be done tomorrow.

Today I spent doing kids activities.

And my brain has melted and I am no longer capable of putting a sentence together..

Thanks to @cosypompoms for last month and to @EfficientlyDecluttering for October.

A cosy nest sounds lovely. Spurred on by my efforts yesterday in the kitchen, I tidied and sorted more today. Got a lot of stuff off the floor and put away in the kitchen trolley. Some packaging and a disposable cup into the recycling for tomorrow's collection. The floor is swept and the table is piled with stuff to put away tomorrow. Prepared the tea before the LOs got home and started hovering like starving lions. That went really well, in fact.

I'm assuming that Paperwork for this month includes all online life admin. H and DD got my car insured yesterday online for about half the renewal quote. I replied to an email that I'd been procrastinating over for about three months. Felt a lot lighter in my mind after doing that. Filled in permission slip as soon as LB gave me it. Phoned H to double-check our diaries.

Found gluesticks that LG had been nagging asking for in time for craft night on Thursday. I knew they were somewhere in the house. Then deleted them from tesco order, which is a kind of decluttering win. Trimmed LB's hair, only to have him announce that he wants it to grow all the way down his back. Bagged up outgrown school trousers.

Tomorrow's task is to clear the kitchen table without falling back into the habit of churning, which I find soothing.

I didn’t get much done today either, work, yoga class this evening and in between DD wanted me to watch some TV with her and I felt obliged oh well. I do intend to give the front door a wipe down in the morning though as it’s easier in daylight and shake the mat out when I get the milk in.

@Scourgify yes, I’d say it includes online the Flylady page I would say was written some years ago and things have changed. My email gets very cluttered if I’m not careful and I just don’t seem to have caught up with life admin since we went on holiday in August. As for the actual paper, there’s not too much lying around here but I do need to declutter some older files and folders. However I have cleared an entire box full from DS’s room in the last couple of weeks (he’s at uni but I have permission to blitz it, he’s dyspraxic and struggles).

Cat - sorry my last post wasn't very clear at all. The day off I was referring to was a day off from work (in addition to the weekend), I take many more days off that that from housework. I'm a teacher so I also have a tendency to say 'I'll get on top of it in the holidays' but this isn't working now. I enjoy housework once I get going, and I definitely enjoy having a really clean and organised home but I've only got habits around the perpetuals and I really want to change that - I don't even manage to get it properly clean in the holidays now. I definitely need to learn to fly again!

I didn't do well with my PO3 last night - I did clean the downstairs loo but in a very basic way (better than nothing I guess) but that was all. Tonight I'm aiming to post a 'ta da' list rather than a PO3!

Wishing you all a productive day!

Morning, just done yesterday’s mission of wiping the front door and shaking out the mat. Neither was too bad, but back in the summer we had the hall painted white (was a gloomy colour before) and it showed up how filthy the inside of the door was as I hadn’t done it for ages.

Today’s flight plan is here http://www.flylady.net/c/fp.php?tzm=360

Our mission is putting out the hotspots in zone 1, those piles of junk mail, shoes, whatever is cluttering up the place. Take 15 mins and see how much you can do. Tuesday is also planning day

Ok, I am caffeinated and ready to tackle the day!

I have two questions for you, wise ladies:

1. Birthday party for 3 year old guest list: 3 people did not RSVP. Do I count them in or out? I need to know the numbers to give to the venue and for party bags. It's the type of venue where I have to pay per guest. I don't want to assume they are not coming and then face the awkwardness on the day if they do show up..
   It's the first kids party that I'm organising, so have no clue 🤣

2. more relevant to cleaning. We have a very awkward narrow entrance. At the moment I have my folded pram and carrycot there. It's a mission to use it, as it's difficult to fold/unfold/put together while holding a baby, so I use the sling. Carrycot was used 3 times in last 2 months. Do I just put it away?? I keep my cheap and cheerful foldable pram thing in the car boot, I am assuming little one can use that when he is old enough to sit up. I imagine he will be in the sling for next few months. As I find it easier to chase after toddler this way 🤣
   Is it timer to say goodbye to my pram (aka travel system)? What would you do?

1. if you can track the parents down in any way, ask them directly. It is infuriating but some people just aren't organised / committed or they might have a better reason such as it's the other parent's weekend with the DCs, or they haven't got anyone to mind a baby or whatever. For party bags maybe use things that you can keep for your DCs if not used.
2. I'd probably get rid if you really are OK with the sling (I didn't get on with them at all). My two are closer in age and we needed a double buggy so never used the travel system with DC2 and with DC1 we went over entirely to the lightweight folding one as soon as they were old enough.

I did a load of laundry today as well as my normal vacuuming so I guess that’s a win because I’ve been meaning to do some laundry for a few days now and today I did it

See i loved the heavy duty travel system. It worked better for the long distances i was walking. Hated the lightweight one as it felt so much more flimsy, especially over the rougher terraine. The lightweight one was ok when we visited a town/city centre, but never held the amount of stuff that tended to be needed to be picked up on those trips. But i had an only and it was generally just me and ds/buggy. So it really is a personal choice and usage I think.

Woken with a migraine so it is slow but progressing here.
ta da
online admin
gather together things that need to be removed and start the process of continued stripping out of my bedroom
emptied the bucket from under the leaking ceiling
taken a walk
attempted a conversation with ds
going to take some migraine meds before i tackle the kitchen.

I am ignoring the missions, and most of the baby steps atm because the chaos of this building site makes them impossible.

Whereas we live in a town and didn't really venture off road much in the early days, or if we did that was when the sling did get a bit of use, our travel system wasn't great for it in any case as it had small wheels. The stroller we walked miles with around towns though. Once DC2 came along we had one of those Phil and Teds doubles with the baby lying behind the toddler, that was much better for off road but a PITA to put in the car.

Good morning! (Well it's morning here still!)
I never did make it back on here to add my ta das 🤦‍♀️
Elf that's tricky re party. I would try to reach out first, to get an answer. Then I would let the venue know that you have x number coming, but 3 you haven't heard from yet and ask if you can pay for them on the day if they show up. I'm sure they get this all the time as people are too rude/ busy to RSVP anymore. I would have extra party bags just in case.
As for your pram & carry cot situation, do you have somewhere to store them so they are out of the way, but easy to access if you need them? If you don't have anywhere to store them, I would get rid, assuming you'll be okay using the sling for the next little while.

Ta Das:
Sunday
👻 bought towel rails for bathroom that was just updated (shower added)
👻 DH installed them, with DS
👻 took things off the walls in the basement that were hanging
👻 LOLs x7 to have everything done (I didn't know if we would be able to access washer & dryer)
👻 watched Hocus Pocus! 🐈‍⬛

Monday
🕷I worked, so didn't actually have any ta das, other than cooking dinner (creamy vegetable soup) & wiping countertops down.
🕷DS rotated DW for me as that's his daily chore (one of them)

No ta das yet today, just drank 1 cup of coffee, it's just gone 7:30am here though.

The cleaners came yesterday and washed the walls in the basement, although parts were missed due to large pieces of furniture in the way that the restoration crew were supposed to move, I'm not impressed 😠
Our trusses were also delivered yesterday, so not sure if that moves things up 🤷‍♀️ hopefully I'll get updated today.
🍒👋 to everyone

ta da
Realise that if the entire room is not stripped then there is around 5hrs of cleaning before the room would be possible to sleep in
swear a lot
find a couple of boxes
try to figure out where to put the boxes
start stripping the book shelves
Begin to think that whilst the room is completely stripped out would be a good time to redecorate it - remember that christmas is coming, i would still have to sleep in the room which is not great with paint smells, and that really i have neither time nor energy for it.
swear a whole heap more
try to figure out if the car needs to be moved this week or the next few at all. I do have a 4hr round trip at some point this month and don't want to traipse a car full of books.
take a walk
have another conversation with ds and actually get his laundry
put a load of washing on