Springing into April - Flylady style

[BloomingHazel]

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. you have been warned! 😁
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 a week. 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: do/did not lose my shit

There are more, but I can't think of them all. 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.

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

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

Posting to make me mop the floors!

Hope ds is feeling better soon @BloomingHazel … we had that last week with my ds and also the antibiotics spat everywhere. Bribery with some hot wheels car stopped that !

@Hatecleaninglovecleanhouse just jump
in, please don’t feel overwhelmed as it’s so easy to when you think everything has gone passed the point of your acceptability. Every little thing you do starts to add up and flylady is really about building routines and it’s ok for it to take a while to sort out !

Yesterday was busy with kids stuff - nursery runs, dance class for the 2 year old and taking both to a play group. But managed to collect 4 x parcels from 2 x places, post a parcel, drop off charity shop stuff and recycle a load of old batteries that had accumulated. Maintained the weekends wins.

Today has been better for tadas so far :
⭐️ morning routine
⭐️ nursery drop off
⭐️ short fitness workout ( with the 2 year old hanging onto my leg for added challenge)
⭐️all clean clothes put away
⭐️ bathroom ceilings, door frames and tops of cabinets dusted
⭐️anti mould spray on the silicon surrounding the bath
⭐️bath cleaned
⭐️ bath mat cleaned
⭐️dishwasher emptied
⭐️ washing up done
⭐️ colouring in with the 2 year old
⭐️ lunch and tidy up
⭐️ walked to nursery and was organised enough to take the scooter for the 4 year old ( 30+ minute walk home, mostly uphill which would double if he walked ! )

To do :
❌ make banana bread with the 2 littles ( and clean up )
❌ make tea
❌ clean bath toys
❌15 mins decluttering in the attic ( other room of choice for this week )

Hope all your Tuesdays are going well !

Jones I always wear my gloves! I hope the attack wasn't too bad to manage.
What are you having done to your eyebrows? DS does one load per day as well, I do still have extras to wash (bedding, towels, blankets etc). It helps when he's able to keep up on the regular loads for me.

cleaning (do you mind if I shorten your name to that?) Making the bed is really simple, but makes a big impact. I tried to teach my DC to make their beds every day, but they just never have! Hopefully they'll eventually do it on their own 🤷‍♀️
DH usually makes our bed all the way, I do tidy my side up, but he's still sleeping when I get up. He's one who's always made his bed too (as an adult).
Well done on today's mission!

Hemax luckily DS is old enough that he won't spit it out, and will probably have pills to swallow instead of liquid. You've had a busy day already!

Ta das: (it's not quite 8am here)
☕️ dropped DS off at school (I'm starting to think he has a high pain tolerance, the complete opposite of his sister!)
☕️ 1st cup of coffee drunk

I will get up off the couch in the minute and get stuff done today, but I did wake with a bit of a headache today (neck is stiff, probably the cause)

@BloomingHazel I wish I was doing well on decluttering! Still so much excess (and some of it I don’t want to get rid of so…) I hope your ds feels better soon and that your neck/head are ok.

@Hemax1 another long list from you!

@Hatecleaninglovecleanhouse I love the effect making the bed has on the entire room. For me it makes the room look and feel clearer even if there’s still mess elsewhere. I’m better at achieving stuff in the mornings too, nothing happens after 8pm for me!

I worked this morning so haven’t done a huge amount but I did vacuum and mop the floors and have kept on top of the laundry and hot spots. Might quickly tackle the spare room before I finish cooking dinner

character even if you're not getting rid of a much as someone else might, progress is still progress. I know I might keep something 'just in case', but then revisit that same thing 6 months later and think "why did I keep this?" The same thing might happen to you down the road too, or you may have a use for it and be glad you kept it!

Ta das so far:
🧚‍♀️ Master bedroom sheets in the washer
🧚‍♀️ dogs taken to groomer for nail trim
🧚‍♀️ currently sitting in the car wash (there was no queue to get in!)

Still a few things to get done today..

@TheMainCharacter thank you ! After a few years of house move / small children and pnd there is more than enough to keep me busy getting sorted. I now feel like I’m getting on more of a roll and some jobs are finally being done and starting to be kept on top of.

In addition to above, the banana bread has been tea have been made. Banana bread is now cooling.

im now currently sat playing connect 4 with the 2 year old … well as much as you can play connect 4 with a 2 year old 🤣 We’ll start bedtime off shortly…. And see how that goes this evening !

Hemax hopefully bedrooms went smoothly for you 🤞

Ta das:
🧚‍♀️ LOLs x6 (including sheets from spare bed, blankets, towels etc.)
🧚‍♀️ put clean clothes away
🧚‍♀️ vacuumed main floor
🧚‍♀️ vacuumed stairs
🧚‍♀️ bleached both bathrooms
🧚‍♀️ picked up prescription for DS
🧚‍♀️ picked DS up from after school club
🧚‍♀️ wiped fingerprints and marks off doorways and walls throughout the house
🧚‍♀️ got my lunch ready for tomorrow
🧚‍♀️ rotated DW

Still to do:
😴 get my clothes out for the morning
😴 take a shower
😴 yoga
😴 bed at a decent time

Wednesday is anti-procrastination day.

Wednesday's mission is to wash shower curtains and mats in the bathroom.
In the spare bedroom/ guest room, tackle those cobwebs in the corners of the room.

Baby Step: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-17/
Set a bedtime and stick to it. I'm actually working on this anyway, I need to get more sleep!

Ta-da's:

🎶 Morning routine
🎶 Took a bag of donations to the charity shop
🎶 Cleaned the baseboards on the kitchen cabinets
🎶 Shopping list
🎶 Food shopping
🎶 Swept garden
🎶 Sorted out parcel
🎶 Decluttering
🎶 Went to park
🎶 Exercise

Evening everyone hope you’ve had had a good day.

Today I made time to read a book for an hour 😀

I’m jumping around a bit for my extra zone room this week, using it to tackle various areas of doom. So far I’ve made improvements in the cellar, under stairs cupboard, airing cupboard as well as straightening a few things in the spare room/office. Today I tackled under dd2’s bed and two kallax boxes in her room. Got rid of a few bits of rubbish but mostly just tidying up/reorganising.

As well as that today’s TaDas included dusting the hall/stairs/landing and cleaning the glass panelled door in the hall (which I hate because it’s so fiddly and never looks completely clean). DP also made a start on the garden, sweeping up all the pine needles and weeding everywhere. Need to give him credit for this as it’s something I really don’t enjoy so am pleased it’s been done!

Ditzy that's a good ta da list. What did you do for exercise, if you don't mind me asking?

character you were busy today! And well done for fitting in reading a book.

Ta das:
🏋‍♀️ worked all day (which is why my list is very very short today)
🏋‍♀️ called about DSs trombone
🏋‍♀️ circuit training exercise, created by DS

DH is currently cooking burgers for dinner tonight, so an easy dinner for me!

I still need to get my lunch ready for tomorrow, clothes out ready, shower (all after eating dinner of course).

Thursday is errand day.
Thursday's mission is to spend 10 minutes in the bathroom, throwing out expired or used up makeup & cosmetics.
Also in the guest bedroom (or other room), do another 27 boogie fling, for the newbies. At least, that's where I'm guessing as they weren't clear on the app! For others who may not need to toss 27 items, your mission is to sweep or vacuum that room.

Baby Step: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-18/
Read the 11 commandments that she has on her website: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/flying-lessons/flyladys-11-commandments/

It all depends Hazel. Usually some kind of YouTube video, there's loads. I don't have any particular focus, just trying to keep in good health

.

Hello, as the late night place marking full stop shows, I was up in the night but am trying to get back in control of my house.

Have worked really hard over Easter, have books on we buy books and have three boxes of other stuff to sell poss online which I can't quite face but I know they have decent £ value which is why I am not too keen to just give to the charity shop (have done a big run with decent stuff just not named)

Welcome @invidensa 👋
You've made a great start to decluttering. If you have any questions on anything, don't hesitate to ask!

Friday is clean your car & handbag out day.
Friday night is also date night 🥰

Friday's mission is to clean and shine our bathroom countertops & sinks. Clear the countertops off first as it'll be easier to clean & put back what you want left out.

Apparently on the last day of being in the guest bedroom we are to set the time for 15 minutes and just relax 🤔 I'm thinking something got left out! If you are done on that room, great, just relax! If not, either declutter for 15 minutes or find something pretty to place in that room for decoration, or add fresh flowers or mini toiletries for guests.

Baby Step: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-19/
In this link is a testimonial email she received. She wants you to check out her testimonials page and added a reminder to use our timer for 15 minutes, but not needing to rush.

Ta das:
🧘‍♀️ worked all day
🧘‍♀️ picked DS up from school early as he was sick (dropped him off at the house and went back to work again)
🧘‍♀️ worked in the back garden (pool area) with DH for a few minutes
🧘‍♀️ ate dinner (leftovers)
🧘‍♀️ showered
🧘‍♀️ tomorrow's lunch is ready
🧘‍♀️ tomorrow's clothes are ready

I'm about to do yoga, I was just waiting for my watch to get done charging, to track my workout 😇
I hope all is well with everyone 🍒👋

Weds - nothing as it was a rare day in the office and I was out for 13 hours.

Thurs - looked up hotspots and realised I have one (or two) in every room. I like the idea of a daily 2 minutes on one of them, without worrying about perfection, so will put that as my bedtime routine.
Made my bed
Declutter in guest room
Turfed old stuff out of the bathroom cupboard.

Today
Made my bed
Shined bathroom sink and tops
Emptied a whole carrier bag of crap out of my car 🥴
Will do a hotspot 2 mins after work

@Hatecleaninglovecleanhouse you’re making amazing progress (not meaning to sound patronising). I find tackling the hotspots makes a huge difference, yesterday I had not much time but did 15 mins of hotspot clearing and the house instantly looked better.

@BloomingHazel how is your ds? Is it still his ear infection or something else?

Today’s tadas so far
👏morning routine
👏school run
👏15 min tidy/hotspot clear
👏vacuum downstairs
👏dust living rooms x2
👏fold and put away lol
👏hang out lol
👏eat far too much food 😳

clean it's all about bite size chunks and soon enough you will have control over your house again, or at least a bit of a routine!

character DS had diarrhea so needed to be picked up, but we're thinking it might be a side effect of the antibiotics. His ear is feeling better than it was.
I have days where I eat too much food and sometimes too much of the bad-for-me stuff, you're not alone!

DS did home bleugh today and mowed the grass in the back garden. The front is still pitiful looking, but no point in doing anything about it until the brick is done as they'll be driving on it, I'm sure.

I worked, then went to a jazz fundraiser (DS was playing his trombone). We all had a lot of fun and DH bid on a few things, but won a hamper.
I'm now drinking my sleepy time tea, before thinking about taking a shower.

Saturday is family fun day.
There are no missions on the weekend, but I'll post the baby steps in case anyone is interested.

Baby Step: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-20/
Add laundry to your daily routine. She suggests starting a load at night, moving it to the dryer in the morning. I personally don't like my laundry to sit in the washer too long, but it might work if you have a delay start 🤷‍♀️

Oops I didn't post for Sunday! Sorry!

This week we are moving into the next zone: the master bedroom.
Monday's mission is to spend 15 minutes getting things out from under your bed, but only 15 minutes. Put things away that don't belong. If you have nothing under your bed, vacuum or sweep under it to get the dust bunnies.

Monday is home bleugh day: quick vacuum around the house, empty bins, change bedding. Try to only spend an hour on this, or 10 minutes in each room.

Baby Step: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-22/
Learn how to build your control journal.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Saturday we bought a bing cherry tree, DH planted it, while I planted a rose bush. We also went and bought 400 bricks for edging around flowerbeds, and had to move them 3 times! Dinner was at ILs so I didn't have to cook 😍

Sunday we drove the spare bed (king) to DD and brought back her queen to be our spare bed, it's a 2 1/2 hour drive to her. We will need to replace it all though as it's seen better days (very old - I was pregnant with DD when we bought it, she's 20 now!). It'll work for now though.
Other ta das from Sunday:
🍒 LOLs x2
🍒 grocery shopping
🍒 painted my nails
🍒 watched a movie
🍒 got my lunch ready for tomorrow

I just have to get my clothes out for the morning, take a shower and go to bed.

Sorry, I've been AWOL for a few days as work was so busy the house just went to the bottom of the priority list. DH and I spent some time yesterday having a good sort and getting back on track.

@BloomingHazel my eyebrow appointment was for microblading. I have almost no natural eyebrows so got them done a few years ago and I love them. I go for a top up around every 18 months as it is semi permanent so that was last week 🙂.

Yesterday's TaDas:

👣 Wiped down the kitchen sides and cupboards
👣 Morning routine
👣 15 minutes of weeding the garden
👣 DH dusted and I quickly wiped down the bathrooms
👣 DH cleaned the inside of the windows downstairs

Today so far:

👣 Morning routine
👣 Changing bedding

Planned for later:

📝 General home bleugh including putting away washing
📝 5 mins hotspot decluttering (in the utility room)