New Year, Fresh Start with Flylady

[HazelNotHungryLC]

Are you looking to finally getting into a new routine with housework? Something simple to start that can be easy to add to over time? Flylady may be the answer for you!

This is a long running thread, but we are a friendly bunch and all are welcome to join in.

Do NOT sign up for the Flylady emails - it's an excessive amount sent every day.

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

There are 5 zones 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!

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. It's also date night (with your significant other, or friends, or yourself!)
• Saturday: family fun day
• Sunday: renew your spirit

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

There are more, feel free to ask us to explain something. I'll try to update links every day, although if you can, it's worth downloading the app, you can even have it send you notifications (although I only have it for when the zones change). You can also modify the tick lists to suit your home & lifestyle.

Links are below 👇 if I happen to not add links in time, they do update at midnight for you. I am in the US, 7 hours behind the UK, so I'll do my best.

Launch Pad: https://www.flylady.net/d/new-links/
Zones: https://www.flylady.net/d/zones/
Baby Steps: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/

Well, I'm trying! Newbie here. 😁

My sink is shiny, and I do get dressed every day. (That felt like an easy win on Day 2). Today I have:

💚Done 3 loads of laundry
💚Supermarket shop for basics
💚unpicked a cushion and laid it out on new fabric ready to re-cover it
💚Made HUGE amount of veg soup - enough for about 10 meals - with what was lurking from Christmas and frozen it
💚Bin day! Got rid of a lot of stuff

I'm just steeling myself to do 15 minutes in the entrance hall which is chaotic.

Got the rest of the wrapping paper in the recycling, general rubbish also outside in the respective bins, vacuumed as well. Going to be sad to take the decorations down (I leave them up until twelfth night)

Hello all,
Productivity died a death here as I was hit by the sick bug the dcs have had. Yesterday was terrible, was either throwing up or passed out. Thankfully the sickness only lasted 14 hours or so and I’m pretty much back to normal now although was very weak and achy this morning so haven’t achieved much.

On the plus side dp has fixed the broken dishwasher, the broken washing machine and the leak under the bath 👏 so I have this afternoon caught up on 3 lol. Only 7 million to go!

@Ambi 16 year old is actually pretty good now, was a difficult baby and young child and had a rocky couple of years with the transition to secondary school and covid but he’s doing well now, has a part time job and girlfriend and is generally pleasant company. How about yours?

@HazelNotHungryLC I have taken the wreath down from our door as it needs a few days to dry out before being packed away but the trees and cards are all still up as is the stair garland. I love the fairy lights so leave them as long as possible!

@Shannaratiger my dad has Parkinson’s, terrible disease. I think people just think of the tremor when they hear Parkinson’s but that’s the least of it really. With you on the food too, so frustrating!

@Searchingforsnow was it you asking for books? Sorry I’ve scrolled back through but can’t find the post. I’m currently reading a “fluffy” book called Christmas by Candlelight by Karen Swan. Quite enjoying it and is an easy read. Have read a few of her now for easy reading. I’ve just finished The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid and before that read American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins and Sorrow and bliss by Meg Mason. Next on the list is Across the Sand which is a sequel to Sand by Hugh Howey.

@Scourgify I’m a sucker for a good box too

@JewelleryCat I feel sad about getting rid of the decorations too. Normally I'm champing at the bit to get them down but not this year

@TheMainCharacter that bug sounds awful. Take it easy for a bit to recover.

✅wreath down
✅ Christmas doormat in to dry

I feel sad about the decs too Cat. Mine come down tomorrow

Glad you're feeling better Character

Like the idea of a Christmas doormat Pompoms. I settled for a new, though boring, one that's at least clean, unlike it's predecessor

That's a great idea for using up the leftovers Hatty

Ta-da's:

🎈Morning routine
🎈Supermarket
🎈Exercise
🎈Reading
🎈Evening routine

Hatty that is a productive day!
Cat I wish I could have left my tree up longer, but it was annoying DH and we needed the space in the house for NYE. I was late putting it up this year though.
character sorry to hear your were sick, but glad you're feeling better. I know I'm late commenting, hopefully you didn't overdo it! I have red & white fairy lights that I leave out for Valentine's Day 😍
pompoms I think, other than the fairy lights, taking down my wreath is the hardest part. I'll put up a valentine's Day wreath up, but only at the beginning of February.
Ditzy well done on your ta da list! Good going for keeping on exercising 🥳 I'm trying to get on my spin bike once a week for now, preferably Tuesdays, however, I failed on that this week. I hope to do it tomorrow after work.

No ta das for me, long day at work, now relaxing in the bath with my infused water!

Friday is clean out car & purse (handbag) day. It is also date night, that could be with your other half, friend (non romantic date of course) or yourself.

Friday's mission is to make your dining room table & chairs sparkle. Wipe down the top, sides, back, legs etc. But you only need to do it for 15 minutes, remember, this is not perfection we are after, just "better". Surprisingly, I did this on Tuesday! I did spend a little more than 15 minutes on it, but I was treating the wood not just wiping it down.
When you are done, put flowers, candle, tablecloth etc on, your table will look lovely!

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

Baby step #5:https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-5/

I had a funny turn at the top of a ladder the other day, and from now on I'm training everyone else to go up ladders for me.

Concentrating on hotspots, which means my stepcount goes up, which is good. I was going to say where my main hotspots are, then realised there's at least one in every room, and two rooms that have been taken over by storage - one is my dumping ground, and the other is bedding and soft furnishings from the sorn'ed-over-the-winter motorhome.

Today is putting everything straight for school starting on Monday, and making certain all school-related emails and paper is up-to-date.

Scourgify good thinking on having others go up the ladder for you from now on, that sounds like a scary situation!

There's no ta das from me today again. I worked all day, then did some yoga to try to relieve my back pain. I then had a heat pad on my back, so of course I fell asleep on the couch! Still no relief. It's awful 😫
DS does a mini home bleugh on Fridays since he doesn't have school. It really helps keep on top of the house.

There's also no links other than baby steps for the weekend.
Saturday is family fun day.
Sunday is renew your spirit day.
I have no idea what this weekend holds for me!

@HazelNotHungryLC hope you get some relief with your awful back pain. That must be exhausting.

@Scourgify sorry about the ladder incident. How frightening.

Not much happening here. I cleaned out my bag last week and haven't used it since. It was a new (Vinted) one me for Xmas so all sparkly clean so far.

✅lol
✅ hula hooped
✅ made a healthy smoothie

Aiming to go on a Community litter pick today so that will be a drama when I tell the kids 😆

@Scourgify sounds scary, definitely stay away from ladders!

@HazelNotHungryLC hope your back improves soon. I usually find yoga helps but then you just get some back pain that won’t go away for ages no matter what you do.

I was feeling completely better yesterday but tried not to do too much. Ended up doing too much though and was wiped by the end of the day.

Yesterday I did
🧚‍♀️morning routine
🧚‍♀️ tidied bathroom
🧚‍♀️changed towels
🧚‍♀️lol x 2
🧚‍♀️lol x 3 finished in dryer, folded, put away
🧚‍♀️cleared out car (didn’t go as far as cleaning it!)
🧚‍♀️made fat balls for the birds
🧚‍♀️walked to supermarket and back for stuff for the weekend
🧚‍♀️put away shopping
🧚‍♀️lunch
🧚‍♀️packed away 1 Christmas tree entirely, took the decorations off the big tree, took down stair garland and lights, packed away the last box of little bits of Christmas stuff
🧚‍♀️vacuumed through inc the stairs
🧚‍♀️put furniture in family room back to non Christmas positions
🧚‍♀️tidied and cleaned counter top
🧚‍♀️gathered all the dc assorted items lying around the house and put them in their rooms
🧚‍♀️tidied dd bedroom where everything had been chucked on the floor after she was sick on her bed (and then I was sick so hadn’t sorted it), remade her bed properly.
🧚‍♀️made dp packed lunch (and he then told me he wasn’t working today after all 🙄)
🧚‍♀️cooked dinner
🧚‍♀️tidied up from dinner

I chose a fairy emoji today because I’m pretty sure everyone else in my house thinks that’s who does all of this stuff. Had a bit of a stern word with them last night about a few things. Mainly laundry and disappearing after dinner.

Today’s to dos
Morning routine
yet more bloody laundry
Dry/fold/put away yet more bloody laundry
Get dp to help take down big tree, it’s really big and heavy and I can’t reach to take it apart!
Move furniture back to non Christmas positions
Any related dusting/hoovering
help dc take down their mini trees and pack away
select ds school meals for next term and print so his teacher knows which to give him meds with.
get dd reading record up to date
play some games with dc
cook paella (probably instant pot version as it doesn’t taste too different and is far less time consuming!)
see if anyone listened to my lecture and helps clear up after dinner

pompoms litter picking sounds like a great idea, let us know how it went!
character that is a huge ta da list, no wonder you were wiped by the end of the day!

I definitely feel like my back pain is one that will linger. I'm going to try to make an appt for a massage, hopefully I'll be able to get in on Tuesday. The office doesn't open until Monday though, so no way of knowing until I call. DH gave me some cash, since we are doing no spend January, I have more cash to make up the rest, after he'd seen the state I was in last night.

I still don't know what the plan is today. I just know it'll include grocery shopping (or pickup) and dinner at our house with ILs.

@HazelNotHungryLC sometimes when I get started I see more and more to do and find it hard to stop. Other times I get overwhelmed and shout at everyone, other times it exhausts me and I do barely anything. I never know which me is going to appear until I start 😆

Today was a similar me to yesterday
🥳Morning routine
🥳yet more bloody laundry
🥳Dry/fold/put away yet more bloody laundry
🥳Get dp to help take down big tree, it’s really big and heavy and I can’t reach to take it apart!
🥳Move furniture back to non Christmas positions
🥳Any related hoovering.dusting can wait until next week
🥳help dc take down their mini trees and pack away
🥳select ds school meals for next term and print so his teacher knows which to give him meds with.
🥳play some games with dc
🥳cook paella (probably instant pot version as it doesn’t taste too different and is far less time consuming!)
🥳Also sorted through all the board/card games and the dc chose some to get rid of
🥳 DS2 then asked to do his bedroom and chose lots of toys he no longer wants. Some of them quite big. It only took a couple of minutes as he was really decisive and knew exactly what he wanted. He’s only 4 though so I’m a bit worried he’ll change his mind! I also sneakily binned some broken bits and McDonald’s toys 🤫His room looks so much better now with more room to play so hopefully he’ll not miss anything and appreciate the space. Dd2 is a complete hoarder and put her headphones on when I asked if there was anything that she no longer wanted 🤣 Dd1 said I can do her room when she goes to uni next year 🤔

To do
get dd reading record up to date

see if anyone listened to my lecture and helps clear up after dinner

@HazelNotHungryLC litter pick was great except for grumpy hungry H on the way home. 😡🤬 it's like having three kids.

✅ hula hooping
✅ litter pick
✅ lol
✅ literally lost my shit with everyone over their crappy attitudes and mess and not listening.

Playing catch up over here as i picked up some sort of stomach bug earlier in the week and I've been in bed Tues-Fri. However, one big win today - decorations now down and packed up ready for next year. Leaving the boxes out as guaranteed we've missed some "hidden in plain sight". Just spotted a wooden reindeer hanging from the ceiling in the dining room.

Other tadah: DW (wife, not dishwasher in this case) also completely obliterated the washing up backlog so it just needs putting away once it's dry (so I suppose she is a dish-washer of sorts!)

To do list:
> Er, decluttering everywhere
> Put away dried washing up
> Still got laundry "drying" in the utility from a delicates/wool load I did in December 23rd!
> This week's laundry (we follow Dana K. White's "laundry day". Only catches us out if things don't go in tumble dryer)

character I totally understand the "which me is going to come out today" although mine is more whether I'm going to follow through with my plans or not. Did anyone clear up after dinner?

pompoms having a 3rd child as a husband is awful! Did things get better after you LYS?

professor stomach bugs are the worst! I'm glad you've made it to the other side!

YesTaDas:
🚲 spin bike workout
🚲 shower, dressed & minimal makeup on
🚲 grocery pickup order placed, picked up & put away
🚲 rotated DW x2
🚲 cooked dinner for ILs coming over
🚲 played new monopoly game with ILs, it's a quick game and super fun!

Another day dry, making it 6 days of dry January. Saturday evenings would be the hardest out of habit, but that was super easy, even with MIL drinking the wine I bought & put in the fridge for her 😍

Today's plan is to get meals prepped for the week.
🍕 low carb chicken, bacon ranch pizza
🌯 help DS with the burritos he wants to make

I have a chicken curry I'll make on Tuesday, just to spread it out a bit, but I will need to pull the chicken out of the freezer for that.

My back is feeling better now too, all of a sudden it wasn't hurting anymore!

@HazelNotHungryLC it's not been a great weekend. It's been my period and my PMDD is dreadful. The kids are playing up and I've had an awful row with H. I don't know what to do next really. I've tried the two options of medication the dr offered and there's no magic cure. I feel drained so I've written some bullet points of what I want H to do to make things better next month. Just simple things that would make a huge difference. I've left it out downstairs and come to bed.

✅ long hot bath with Xmas bath stuff and posh shampoo and I started a new book.

Going to draw a line under thisi weekend

This week we move to zone 2, the kitchen.

Monday is home bleugh day.
Monday's mission is to shine our sinks! Grab an old toothbrush & soap and scrub the taps and all the little crevices we miss on a daily basis. She says to then use the same toothbrush & soap on our wedding rings, but I'm not so sure that's a good idea 🤔

Zones:https://www.flylady.net/d/zones/
Baby step #8:https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-8/

I had a head start on my kitchen when I scrubbed my stove top after cooking dinner. I didn't get a huge amount done today, mostly admin and filing that I couldn't complete. I need to order another plastic accordion folder 🙄

pompoms I'm sorry you had such a crappy weekend 😪 I hope you find something that helps you, whether it's medication, diet, homeopathy, acupuncture, or whatever else is out there that could promise to help.

So sorry pompoms I have friends with PMDD and it’s just awful 😞

I am feeling very Monday 😡 I didn’t even manage all my hours last week.

Signing in to post my paltry lists - yes I really have done this little! I’m ridiculously tired, the sort of tired where you feel like you’ll never have energy again 🤣 not sure if it’s a CFS/ME flare up or just Januaryitis and overwhelm about how much I need to do!

Thursday
✅5m meditation
✅reading
✅work

Friday
✅reading
✅dropped Cagletini off with H at his work (he runs community events which she enjoys)
✅met colleague for a bit of planning
✅small amount of work

Saturday
✅5m meditation
✅helped DD1 amend CV

Sunday
✅reading

See? Not good 😳 it’s not like I even feel refreshed by doing so little 🙈🤣

It should really be a power of three type day but I don’t even have the motivation for that. I’m just going to drag myself off for a shower and then log on to my laptop (meeting at 9.30)

Hope everyone has a good Monday!

@SingToTheSky @HazelNotHungryLC thanks for the kind words. I feel better today although very guilty about being so vile all weekend.
H agreed he'd be more proactive next month and take the girls out. I've told him to keep my list to refer to next month.

@SingToTheSky my dad has ME and it's absolutely crippling. It's awful as he's so active and never stops with physical work unless he's literally flat out in bed.

I've got 4kg of parsnips roasting to make soup.
Plus taking kids to a new soft play as school isn't back till tomorrow.
So the house can wait until tomorrow.

Did quite well yesterday.
Took down decorations and did deep clean of living room/dining room and kitchen.
Finally tackled the porch - swept, mopped and cleaned all woodwork down.
Cleared out a utensil drawer which had somehow morphed into a tool drawer thanks to DH - relocated screwdrivers, tape measure etc to the DIY drawer.
Cleaned out the Christmas food/treats cupboards and threw some out/condensed into just 1 cupboard. - I now have an empty cupboard - yay!!
Relocated all the baking stuff into top cupboards (with all the baking over Xmas, there was flour/sugar/cookie cutters mixed in with pasta/jars - chaos!)
Went for a long walk - good to get some fresh air.
2 LOL and put away 3 LOL
Dishwasher loads x 2
Swish and swipes x 3 bathrooms
Shine Sink

Got to attack today now!

Wow well done jm! We haven’t got our decorations down yet. Normally they’re only up till new year! It’s felt nice having them up longer but we should get them down soon really.

I am heartily regretting my decision to almost-give-up Coke/Pepsi (my rule is not having it at home, just if I’m out in a pub etc as I prefer it from the tap anyway). Really do need some motivation!

po3.1
❗️Discuss plans with H and fill in some stuff in diary
❗️Send some non-work emails
❗️LOL