New Year, Fresh Start for your home - January Flylady thread

[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 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: 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:
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/

Thanks @HazelNotHungryLC Happy New Year!

Checking in! Thanks ED for last month and Hazel for this one. Happy new year!

Happy New Year! I've not posted much recently but have been following and these threads have kept my head above water (and the house reasonably tidy and clean).
Hope you all have happy and healthy 2025s and very many thanks to ED for the last thread and to Hazel for this one ♥️✨️

Happy New Year!! 🎉

Thank you ED for running the last couple of threads, you did a great job, especially since it's a busy time of year!

We are starting in zone 1, the entryway.
Spend 15 minutes in this area, put away mail, jackets, shoes etc, where they belong.
You will notice a big difference the next time you walk in the door to your home!

The 1st baby step is to shine your sink. https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/#google_vignette
It's so nice to walk into the kitchen to a clean, shiny sink 1st thing in the morning.

Thank you Hazel for new thread and ED for the last few! Happy New Year all!

House is feeling crammed and cluttered after Christmas but we don't take the decorations down until 12th Night so need to push through a few more days.

I feel like I've only just done Zone 1, how time flies.

Happy new year everyone 🥳

Thanks @ExpensiveDecoration and @HazelNotHungryLC for keeping the thread going ❤️

I didn't think the entrance was too cluttered until I've looked and there are quite a few coats and bags that have snuck in there ! Everyone is home today so at least I should have a little help once everyone is awake . Reflecting back from last year , whilst my home isn't where I would like it to be , it is definitely better than last year ! I'm looking forward to getting my house back into a cozy home this year , whilst we are a really busy family and time is limited, my youngest is 8 now so getting more and more independent , I'm thinking of dividing up the daily responsibilities and getting the kids involved a little bit. They want their friends round and i don't like that happening at the moment because even though my home is so much better than it was, I am still embarrassed by it . Hopefully not for much longer ! I'll be back with some tada lists - my anti procrastination task is the playroom and will be every Wednesday until it's fully decluttered 😊

For the readers in the group , my current book is how to kill men and get away with it by Katy Brent .

@DreamingDaisies we keep ours up till 12th Night too, love them too much to put them away any sooner. We keep the living room blinds open while the tree is up so people can see it from outside and I love seeing it all lit up when I come home in the dark. Thanks for the reminder, I need to do my self assessment, I always dread it but its never as bad as I think it will be.

Tada!
✅loaded DW and put on
✅put empty cans and bottles in recycling
✅put out veg scraps to compost bin
✅portioned up and froze some soup I picked up from the community cupboard yesterday
✅wrapped and froze some un-iced Christmas cakes (I made 8 mini cakes in baked bean tins, they are handy to pull out of the freezer if you have a friend round for a cuppa as they thaw quickly)
✅made cup of tea
✅went back to bed

It has been grey and gloomy for what feels like weeks now. The storm isn't too bad here in SE England but we are travelling to see FIL 100 miles away for the day shortly.

Happy New Year to everyone, and many thanks to ED and Hazel.

Teens and DH are away visiting for a couple of days. My to-do list is collect all laundry in utility, tidy front hall, hoover stairs at least as far as half-landing. I feel the same about Teens’ friends visiting, would love to have a home where they can drop in after school ot have a sleepover.

Have loads of turkey stock ready to make soup. Will use up elderly veg then freeze.

Happy new year!

Thanks for the new thread & the old!

This month's challenge is fixing a whole load of towels that smell weird. We've put them through various temperatures of washes, washed the washing machine, and it remains, I still think they smell odd (and now I know it's not just pregnancy nose that can smell it!). So I've cracked and bought some washing laundry pods - I'm assuming the smell is something the EcoEgg can't get. Hoping it's a quick fix.

Today's wins:
1x LOL
1x washing up
Prepared new box of cloth wipes
Ordered photo prints
Prepared wallpapering supplies for box room

January to do:
Soak the kitchen sink in Vanish again
Rearrange my study
Finish decluttering DW's study/craft room
List unused maternity things on eBay/Vinted
Setup Roomba schedule again
Get Christmas things away and lofted
Return rented breast pump
Sort out cloth nappy system (trial and hire through local nappy library)

Please assume all daily wins lists also include washing and sterilising baby bottles and pump parts, and a whole load of feeding and changing and contact naps. I'm expecting a lot of wins that are one handed or can be done while babe is (safely!!) in a sling!

Searching getting DC involved is always a good idea. There are a lot of chore charts online for ideas, rewards, systems etc. Just having each DC do one thing to help, really does help though too!

Dreaming I usually have my tree down by now, but it's still up. I'm actually really enjoying it this year. I reluctantly told DH that I might take it down today, but really I think I'll wait until the weekend!

Scourgify looks like you have a great plan in place, especially with others gone!

ED safe travels! Is FIL doing any better now, or is he still struggling with day to day life?

THAT how did your NYE go after all?

Broccoli have you tried adding vinegar to your wash at all for the smell? I find it can help eliminate odors. Our towels were starting to smell funky, but we ended up with a different smelling detergent and that seems to have helped with that. It's time for new towels in our house though, it's just finding some we like that are the right size and feel!

Long Time Lurker
I got into the Christmas Clean-A-Long as last year ( 2023 but you know what I mean) I had a week of A/L and all these plans ....and I got bloody Covid

2024 I set my sights on a Marathon not a Sprint and it worked well.

Now I am looking at :
Bag of clothes to go out ,
Some kitchen items that I will take to the Charity Shop at the weekend
Some glassware to go to CS and some to recycle

Christmas decorations are mainly down and put away but still got the tablecover on which will need washed .

My WM keeps throwing up a fault , I looked online its a filter by the looks of things . I did empty and drain the filter and tube thingey last week but then did a Cleaning Cycle with a tablet so maybe more was dislodged . If it doesn;t work then I;ll need to get it seen.

Welcome 70 👋 the cleaning cycle could very well have dislodged something, so worth emptying the trap out again. 🤞 that fixes it for you!

Hiiii <waves>

I really need to rejoin you all! Properly this time 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣

I barely posted in 2024 I think, it was the craziest year. H moved out in March so I could have some space, and in October he agreed to divorce - not started the process officially, but other than legally our 22 year relationship is over 🤟

It has been absolutely the right thing, but really hard too, especially as I try and adjust to being a single parent while also setting up a business. Organisation has never been my strong point 🤣 and the last few months have tested me to my absolute limits. I’m in quite bad burnout at the moment, not helped by the fact I had Covid in November and haven’t fully recovered yet.

I wrote in my journal this morning, as I often like to at new year, and I came to the conclusion that my word of the year needs to be balance - I’m an all or nothing sort of person and while I’ve been focusing on all the exciting new stuff in my life I’ve struggled to look after myself and my home. So I’m hoping that coming back to flylady properly will help with that!

I’ve had a very lazy day other than briefly meeting a friend this morning - I’ve been unwell since Sunday and have spent much of that time in bed. I am hopefully out most of tomorrow so I really need to get some stuff sorted!

po3.1
❗️put washing in dryer on cool for a bit
❗️throw away rubbish in kitchen
❗️figure out dinner (likely takeaway for NYD as is usual here)

Looking forward to catching up with the Fledglings 🥰

@SingToTheSky ! @THATbasicfuckingelfontheshelfshit ! Brilliant to see you back again! Glad that you are both moving forward without manshape-based stressors!

Ok, that's enough exclamation marks for one day.

I am trying to get back to Flying properly this year, I know that when it works it really, really works, but the last six weeks of 2024 were so insanely uncontrolled, with family members in all directions, that I wasn't able to stay on top of it. I'm spending some of today setting up my Bullet Journal (which sort of works as a control journal for me) and I've not touched the pages I made for December since Monday 2nd.

@ExpensiveDecoration , @HazelNotHungryLC we keep our decorations up until the first weekend in January, usually. The house doesn't feel too overwhelming this year because I very carefully didn't put everything up, and I finally bought one of those Ikea wrapping paper suitcases and so all the wrapping stuff is safely away already instead of spread all over the study like it usually is .

@SingToTheSky I really like your point about a Word of the Year. I think mine is More (stay with me on this). I was really tickled by Sophie Ellis-Bexter on the TV last night, saying her 2024 resolution had been "wear more kaftans" and it had gone really well for her. I am NOT a kaftan sort of a woman - I'd look like I was disguised as a bell tent - but I am adopting a Be More Me approach to 2025. This year I want to dance more, sing more, write more, trust my instincts more (they are usually pretty reliable! Who knew?) and do someting for myself absolutely every day, even if it's just stop and drink my tea while it's still hot, and look at the garden. I think it's probably what Instagram would call "living intentionally".

So, on that basis today I have had a lovely long stomp with DH & DS3 and the dog, bought myself a second hand book on Dark Ages archaeology in Britain, even though I suspect people will laugh, and acquired a Vienetta for pudding tonight because I still consider them an absolute treat and the height of sophistication, even if everyone else thinks they're naff. I don't actually care.

Happy New Year!

I'm here, I'm a newbie, I've been following the previous thread for about 6 weeks, and doing a kind of half arsed flylady strategies most of that time.

Its been great, the whole of the house has had some attention, and it has already made a difference. I like concentrating on one area, then moving on. The amount of times I have tried to tackle a whole project and run out of energy before its finished. The worst one I've done more than once, is trying to sort the wardrobes, and then not being able to go to bed because its buried beneath the clothes I've pulled out.

Last year I was determined to sort out finances, and be frugal and build up an emergency fund. This has been accomplished better than I expected, with the help of a support group on here, but of course is an ongoing project until I win the lottery, or better still, the euro-millions.

This year I am going to work towards getting the house looking better, its not helped by DH being a hoarder (he calls it collecting) and both of us being somewhat unwell, but there is only the two of us and the dog. It shouldn't be beyond me to improve things significantly.

Willow I love that! I’ve seen a fair few posts about not being a new you in 2025 but being your true self and that really struck a chord with me, as I very much feel I’m on a journey to really accepting who I am. Here’s to more for the fabulous you in 2025 🥂

I could murder a Vienetta right now 🤫 and no I still haven’t got up to do my power of three. I’m so sleepy!

Searching I like the sound of that book 🤣 great idea getting the kids to help more, and having friends round will be a good incentive. I need to do this too!

I have still achieved nothing. Dinner is almost here though, maybe after I’ll feel more human 🙏🤣

Tadas:
Tidied entrance, wasn't too bad
Decobwebbed porch (with massive broom, dc very amused)
Built and filled new toy storage
Tidied bottom part of freezer
Eaten last leftovers
scrubbed down some kitchen gadgets that live on the side and collect grime (scales, knife block etc)

Last day off tomorrow!

ta da
🥂put wet laundry in dryer for a bit
🥂cleared kitchen a bit
🥂put some rubbish and recycling out
🥂filled DW
🥂hung up damp laundry
🥂bit of piano

Also, naps. 😴

@HazelNotHungryLC thank you for the thread.

I looked at the fly lady method a few years ago after seeing an American YouTuber cover it (she gave it a fair trial and listed pros and cons and what she took from it).

I wasn’t in a place then whilst caring for my eldest with an untreatable MH disorder but 2025 is looking like a more stable and calm year and time to get my house in order literally and figuratively.

home tomorrow after a break at the chaps and actually excited to do this and incorporate it into other habits.

Sing great to see you back! I have been wondering how you've been getting on. Glad to see that STBXH has agreed to divorce so maybe you can actually move on properly and be one less stress to worry about.

Willow I love your plan for the year! It's amazing what a positive spin can do for motivation.

Nellie it's amazing what a difference there is with "little & often". This is the year I need to get our finances under control. What would be your top tips, if you don't mind me asking?

Dreaming great zone work! How is the new toy storage going?

Cat welcome 👋 adding a little at a time really does help, and FlyLady's goal is "better, not perfection"

I did actually manage to sort the entryway, I put a lot of my coats and scarves out for wash, as it's mostly my things hanging up 😳
I woke up with a sore throat, so have been trying to drink tea and honey throughout the day. I don't want to get sick again! But I'm back at work tomorrow.

Thursday is errand day.

Thursday's mission is to spend 15 minutes putting away any Christmas decorations on your door, like a wreath, or on your porch.

Baby Step 2: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-2/
Get dressed to shoes. She means this literally, although we don't wear shoes in our house. I take it to mean dressed and ready for the day.
Don't forget to shine your sink

https://www.flylady.net/d/zones/zone-1/

Hello All, I am joining you this year. Proper slob here! Need to start some good habits to get on top of things.
Followed the baby step yesterday managed half of the dishes and cleaned the sink. After that got myself ready for work this morning, packed my bag, lunch etc
Will finish the dishes this evening and do a LOL, the passage at the weekend, the biggest job will be scrubbing the lino.
Think the tiny steps will help as looking at my flat as a whole overwhelmes me and I give up before I start and do nothing.
Have made a note of baby step 2 for sat/sun and I will at least dig out some joggers (usually don't bother getting dressed at all)

Good morning , sending a coffee to those that need it ☕️

Tada
🥳 stripped bed
🥳 washer on
🥳 breadmaker on

Now sat with a coffee whilst everyone in the house sleeps , I'm going to enjoy reading a few chapters of my book in peace then the daily jobs done .

To do :
📋 wake dd2 up at 9 in an attempt to get back to a school sleep schedule before next week , she has been sleeping past 10am every day of the holidays !
📋 daily jobs
📋 pick ds up
📋 have a sort through school supplies box and make a list of what's needed (it's in the dining room so classing it as my 15 mins)
📋 pop into town to open ds a bank account
📋 I bought the kids a costa voucher and a Greggs voucher for their stocking fillers so will probably be visiting one of those (I'm hoping it's Costa 😂)