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/

Some clearing up to do in the back garden after the storm, but nothing major. Very lucky really.

Got a lot of tidying done while stuck inside all that time. Laundry awaits today.

TaDas- for yesterday

changed handbag
went through some toiletries an jewellry
vacuumed upstairs
cleaned one worktop (had to move everything off it then clean it and let it dry , did this very late last night )
bought myself some underwear ( I'm on Low Spend January but underwear and essential toiletries are ok)
took DD shopping (clothes ) she'd looked all over for a top , not in stock/not online but we found it <hurrah>

ToDo
recycle my greying hair into something that could pass for "brown"
need petrol
going to cook a quiche

Hip somehow I missed your post yesterday! Having a spray in the bathroom is actually a great idea.

Sing I'm glad to see you finally got some meds you've been looking for! Your week sounds busy, hopefully you do get some rest in.

Scourgify I was thinking of you yesterday, I'm glad you didn't have any damage. Great job on utilizing the time you had inside.

70 I like the idea of recycling grey hair to brown! I have to go to the hairdresser every 6 weeks, or my grey's get out of control. Thankfully my hair is short and my hairdresser doesn't charge very much at all.

To dos:
🥶 meal plan for the week
🥶 grocery shopping
🥶 laundry
🥶 repot orchid plants
🥶 paint my nails (while watching a movie)
🥶 clean the inside of my windshield on my Jeep. I really should vacuum and detail it, but it's still freezing cold outside

Sunday is renew your spirit day. No missions.

Baby Step 26: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-26/
A reminder from flylady today that you are not behind! Jump in where we are.

Ta Das! I did the morning routines, and did half the house bleughs. I've hoovered all through, and emptied all the bins.

I am finding doing the whole bleugh in one day too much, so I'm trying doing it over two days. Tomorrow its dusting and changing the sheets.

I have repotted my orchids and hoping they survive.
I have also watered my other plants (I only have 2).

Nellie splitting up the home bleugh is a good idea. Do whatever works for you. Some people spread it out over the whole week. There's nothing wrong with that!

Bins done for tomorrow

Crossing fingers and toes that I have a functioning WM tomorrow ( I have already sorted out the baskets of washing , I am a great fan of laundry bags for any delicates or things like DH socks/DS socks/my socks (we all have black socks ) and DD ( mainly white ) Sorting out wet socks is my nemesis

Loads of shredding done by DS - it builds up in a Bag4Life till someone gets volunteered .
It's the stray buts of shredded paper that escape that I get narked at , though originally I bought a shredder to make soft bedding when we had guinea-pigs . Any "safe/edible" paper was shredded for their bedding .

I have recycled four of my work jotters , I do notes ( nobody would understand them except me and nothing confidential) .

All usual bits plus cooked the Sunday roast. Turned out really well so very happy. Live stream yoga this evening, heart chakra, there were tears

70 I'm crossing my fingers and toes for you too 🤞
Yogachick that's sounds like a great day and great way of renewing your spirit!

I have done a load of nothing since I added my ta das. I still need to go grocery shopping and do my nails. I'm not going to start laundry now, so that'll wait til Tuesday. I've been lazy today!

Monday is home bleugh day.

We move to the next zone, zone 5: the living room.

Monday's mission is to set your timer for 10 minutes and clear your hotspots in the living room. Put things away where they belong.

Baby Step 27: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-27/
Think about dinner in advance. Fit it in your daily routine. Meal plan, if possible. It really does help!

Cleared the top of the final bookcase in the living-room yesterday. The shelves look much better than they did, still
nowhere near “normal”. Cleared off two coffee tables and a hot spot. Gave DD her rucksack back, filled with outgrown kids’ clothes. Cleared off DH’s settee.

It’s a bit weird seeing all these gaps in our living areas. I may get rid of one coffee table, to avoid the automatic flat surface syndrome.

I'm debating if I should buy a new rotary airer (mine is well over 18 years old !) but it is massive , very sturdy and if I did find one similar it'd be £100 + and I'd need to dispose of the old one .

DJ restrung it a couple of years ago , it needs it's Post Winter Clean then fingers crossed I can get loads out next week .

WM is doing a cycle at the moment <hurrah> then I;ll get another load on later .

I will bribe my DS to clean it ( especially if I save myself £100 !) with a McD take-out .

Tuesday is plan & play day.

Tuesday's mission is to have a detailed vacuuming session in the living room.
Move whatever furniture you have, if you can move it without hurting yourself.
Vacuum underneath furniture, behind, the skirting boards (take advantage of the attachments for your vacuum).
If you can't move something, don't worry about it, just vacuum as best you can around it.

Baby Step 28: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-28/
Take care of yourself. Remember to drink your water, eat nutritious food and make time to rest. Fit that in your routines. You can't burn a candle at both ends and expect it to keep burning.

Yesterday’s Ta Das:
✅meditation/yoga,just 10 mins today
✅dog walk
✅make bed
✅vacuum
✅prepare & cook dinner
✅clean oven

Good morning! I'm new to the thread - but have been doing FlyLady on and off for years and years!

I have a very busy day today at work, but luckily (?) I woke up at 430 this morning so I've done quite a lot already.

Ta daahs
Cleaned the fireplace
Dusted the living room furniture
Laundry is on
Dishwasher is empty
Morning routine done
I know what I'm making for dinner later (will need to be a quick one!)

To Do
Afternoon routine (I do mine while I'm making the dinner on work days)
Night time routine

Welcome to the thread @purplesparklydinosaur!
I'm not sure if waking up at 4:30am is a good thing (it wouldn't be for me!😂), but at least you got a lot done already!

Scourgify that's a good idea, to remove the temptation of filling the flat surfaces.

70 what is making your think of getting rid of your trusty, sturdy airer? Great news about your WM working again!

Yogachick does it seem to be getting easier to do the routines now?

It's my day off today. I'll need to run some errands, but those won't take long (out of the house). Hopefully I'll be back with some ta das later.

@HazelNotHungryLC the morning routines are comfortably set in stone now. The do 15 mins then stop is revolutionising my home. If only I could apply the same vigour with losing post menopausal chub!

Yesterday's ta das! changed sheets, washed and dried the old ones, wiped down kitchen cupboard doors, and ironed and put away clothes.

Today's ta das! ironed and put away the sheets, LOL, and wiped round 2 bathrooms. That's Mondays Bleughs done now, it was much easier over 2 or 3 days. Trying to fit it all in on Monday is just too much.

Tomorrows and Fridays plan is to do the deep clean of the living room, its not got cluttered again after the last time it was the mission, so I should be able to get it done over the 2 days.

It's amazing what can be accomplished in such a short amount of time. I'm glad you're noticing a difference Yogachick

Nellie I agree that it's a lot to do in one day. I do my version of the home bleugh on Tuesdays, since that's my day off, but if I'm out of the house for more than a couple of hours I struggle to get it all done!

I'm going to keep the rotary airer , it used to raise up/down but that handle isn't working , it twirls round but doesn't move . It is set on the highest height .
I'm not a fan of the umberella airers (I'd trap a finger ) so sticking with the original .

If I can get the arms to fold down then it can be cleaned and DH can find the cover (which he says in in the shed )

I bought some scrubbie gloves ( rubber gloves which a scourer attached ) so hoping they'll make it easier .

Wednesday is anti-procrastination day.

Wednesday's mission is to tackle the hidden clutter. You know the stuff, you put it down, it blends in and you no longer see it. Do you have piles of magazines or DVDs laying around? If you look around and still can't "see" anything, take a picture. Sometimes just doing that can open our eyes to clutter we couldn't see before. Set your timer for 15 minutes, and do what you can!

Baby Step 29: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-29/
It's time to take care of you! Visit the pamper section on the website for ideas and plan a pamper session. A bit of self care can go a long way! https://www.flylady.net/d/br/author/pamper/

Ta das: (not in any particular order)
🫖 LOLs x5, including sheets & towels
🫖 clean laundry put away
🫖 rotated DW (with help from DS)
🫖 put away handwash dishes
🫖 wiped countertops & stovetop
🫖 bought dog licenses for the year
🫖 bank
🫖 stopped off at music store to discuss yet another instrument 🥴 DS has decided he can just use the schools bass trombone after all. I will need to call the store to tell them they no longer need to work on finding one! For now.
🫖 drove with DS multiple times today, now he has his learners permit he needs to practise. We had a close call this evening!
🫖 cleaned both bathrooms

I need to go take a shower, I've finished my bedtime tea and now I'm sleepy!

Right!
For the past couple of weeks I've let things slide badly. It gets a bit of a vicious circle - the more I don't do things, the more overwhelmed I feel by what needs doing and the less I feel able to do.
Today, it's a full house bleurghh (of necessity it will be a bit less thorough than when I split it over two days, but a darn sight better than nothing).
If I write it here I'll have to do it - off I go!

Eta I note it's pamper day too - I'll need a bit of that post-bleurghh 😊

There's been good progress here in January. We've ordered a load of frozen meals which means we both have mental space and energy for housework, and now baby is coming up on 2 months old she's sleeping better which helps too!

No done list to share so far from today but I'm wondering how everyone else's other halves does housework. Do they also follow flylady or do they have their own tasks, or..?

A whopping big TA-DA plus a Whoop Whoop! Managed the whole house bleugh including intensive anti-cobweb action, bathrooms and kitchen floors washed, everywhere dusted and vacuumed...and my sink is shiny again 😃
Then de-grimed myself (especially necessary as I was emptying the vacuum cleaner container into the bin when a gust of wind blew a load of dust at me) and feel so much better.
As before I found when I have these periods when I can't get everything done, the fact I've stuck to the Flylady plan means it's never so bad to get back to normal.
Many thanks for running this month's thread, Hazel, it's been a life-line.
And one good thing is I've kept the church spick and span and this week is my last week. Never will a church key be handed over with such alacrity as this one will on Sunday 😂

RockingBroccoli

I'm wondering how everyone else's other halves does housework.

I'm still wondering how my DH does housework as I've never seen it myself.
The basic deal is I do the inside, he does the garden but it's incredible (literally incredible) how often the weather is unsuitable for gardening. On the rare days that it's not too wet/too dry/too windy/too hot/too cold and the planets are in the correct conjunction...he usually feels a twinge in his back or something.
He's been keeping us fed while I've been a bit hors de combat and he has been coming to help me clean the church (despite being an atheist) so I've appreciated that.
You and Mr RB sound most a impressive team and well done to BabyBroccoli for sleeping better. It makes a big difference 😊