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/

Tada
🥳 school uniforms are ironed , massive tick ✅ off the list , it makes the work & school week so much more organised getting that job out of the way ! I need to find out my work clothes and iron them too but it doesn't take as long as the uniforms 🙂

I should iron the uniforms too, that would really help - future friend and all that!

Ta da
🧹 swept and mopped where the (real) tree has been - annoyingly the floor appears to have been marked slightly
🧺 yesterdays wash load in the dryer and another load on
🧼 picked up all the recycling in the utility room and bagged up as bin is full
🛒 ordered a panic last min same day delivery food shop as snow is forecast to be heavy overnight
🧽 emptied and cleaned draining board
🧹 filled and switched on DW
🧺 hand washed some handwash pots
🧼 started boxing up christmas bits
🛒 quick mop around downstairs loo because - boys

Would you mind if I joined in too?
I am trying to declutter the house and have a no spend year (except for our holiday in February- all paid for last year).
I have never really had a chance to come up with a routine as I have 3 dc who are very demanding and it has been a case of fitting housework around them which has helped lead our house to be a right state.
My youngest dc is back at nursery (he started just before Xmas) so I have 2.5 hours a day to tackle decluttering and housework.

Hi conqueror welcome!

Didn't manage yesterday's challenge, kitchen table is still covered in lego,painting, colouring stuff etc . . .

Tadas

• sheets changed
• bins emptied
• Freezer tidied out while it's fairly empty

Haze The film was some dreadful thing on Prime involving a well, several monstery types, and an art restorer, it was DH turn to choose. Truth be told, I dozed off a bit, if there was a plot, I missed it.

Todays wins, ensuite wiped round, ironing done and put away, windows opened for 5 minutes to let out the old air (I know, don't let the heat out ect..but the house feels much fresher) dinner cooked and eaten, bird table replenished, DW filled and on, kitchen wiped and swept. I also tidied up the spare bedrooms.

We haven't any snow yet, but it feels snowy. I checked the power cut kit, just to put my mind at rest. DH moved some logs to the back porch so we have enough in for a couple of days without going outside.

Hip that sounds like a good plan for today!

Searching well done on the ironing! I'm actually really glad there aren't any uniforms here. I did iron all my clothes for a while when I worked at a bank, but gave up when I started the job I'm in now as it's more relaxed (no dress code at all!).

THAT it would annoy me too if the tree left marks on my floor. Is it really noticeable?

Welcome @Conquererofallchallenges 👋 jump on in! The more the merrier 😊 a no spend year would be really hard for us, but we are doing a no spend month this month. With 2.5 hrs a day you should be able to get into a routine (shouldn't take too long each day, 15 mins to an hour) and have some down time!

Dreaming emptying out the freezer can be a task in itself! It also sounds like fun has been had (or ongoing) at the table, and that's more important IMO 🤷‍♀️

Nellie I probably would have dozed off too! I'm a firm believer in airing out the house when I can, it really does make a big difference!

To dos:
☕️ LOLs
☕️ shower, get dressed, makeup on etc...
☕️ handwash dishes
☕️ rotate DW
☕️ throw away stale Christmas goodies (that will create more handwash dishes, so should do that first 😆)
☕️ clip online coupons for groceries
☕️ grocery shopping
☕️ take DS to hair appt
☕️ air out the house
☕️ clear surface around the house, put things away
☕️ hopefully pick up DSs trombone as it's getting deep cleaned, if not, hope I can pick up a loaner

Let's see what I can actually get done today!

Today:

Vacuumed bedroom and upstairs landing
Cleaned the cats trays and vacuumed downstairs hall
CBA doing the stairs , DS did them on NYD when we took down the decorations

Christmas handtowels are packed to put in the attic .
Tablecover and napkins in the wash now

Our bins and recycling go out Tuesday - I am sure I will have more bags to go out .
Towels put away ,
LOL done some hanging on the heated rail thingie ( socks /pants) everything else in the dryer .

Decluttered the freezer , some random bags with not much in them all taken out and will be eaten tonight , Random mix .

Ta Da

🧽 more LOL
🧹 cleaned behind and under bed
🧺 cleaned manky bedroom wall
🧼 tidied hair / makeup bits in bedroom
🛒 tidied bedside table
🧽 hoovered bedroom
🧹 stripped bed
🧺 mopped bathroom
🧼 wiped bed frame
🛒 foam spray on carpet in bedroom

Feeling productive today!

Another family visit today, a lovely calm one for a change. And we had two home cooked meals, so a big success!

@HazelNotHungryLC baby broccoli doing well. Looking forward to the apparent imminent longer sleep cycles, but DW and I are managing better than we both thought we might. I think this is "having a chilled baby" privilege.

Today's wins:
Parcel posting
Emptied kitchen bins
15mins lounge tidying
Trialled baby carrier

January to do progress: (no change)
List unused maternity things on eBay/Vinted
Return rented breast pump
Soak the kitchen sink in Vanish again
Rearrange my study
Finish decluttering DW's study/craft room
Setup Roomba schedule again
Get Christmas things away and lofted
Sort out cloth nappy system (trial and hire through local nappy library)

Stumbled across this thread, need to look at the previous to get the gist of zones etc. And what does Tadas mean?

Last evening after reading this I went into my porch and tidied it and sprayed deodoriser in my DH shoes. We have a shoe cabinet but his shoes are too big so they are on an open rack.

We put the decorations away today. Last year we bought boxes and a tree bag and put it all away in labelled boxes. This year was a doddle we could get what we wanted and put it back really quickly.

This evening I have given myself a facial and painted my nails.

Going to read previous threads later.

. And what does Tadas mean ?

Ta-Da is something I have done (like a magician Ta-Da )

Ta Das is more things done ( I think )
I need to look at all the meanings .
I know that LOL is Load of Laundry

And that's as far as I got !

To Do

Your to do list

Ta Da

Things you have done

Me

Plan for this coming week:

Charity Bag ( kerb side collection) Monday

I have a couple of things that I'll take to our local one in person ( jeans , jumper, shoes , some household items )

I have found a place to recycle electricals . Our household waste will take broken electricals but these things still work .

DS shredded a large bag of confidential waste

I am on the Style&Beauty No Spend January so my aim is not to bring anything new into the house . Unless it is essentials but I'm ok for them. I bought a load of toothpaste in Superdrug before Christmas and 5 roll on anti perspirants from Aldi .

Binman welcome! 👋
https://www.flylady.net/d/zones/ on the link there is a list of zones and what days in the month we will focus on them.
Zone 1: entryway, porch and dining room (split week with zone 5)
Zone 2: kitchen (a whole week)
Zone 3: bathroom & one other room (a whole week)
Zone 4: master bedroom & en-suite, if you have one (a whole week)
Zone 5: living room (split week with zone 1, when it starts over again)

I hope that helps!
Ta das are just a way we list everything we accomplished. It's not mandatory, but I find others ta da lists motivating, so I add my own ta das. It sometimes feels like I haven't done much, until I list it all out.

We also bought lots of storage boxes & bags for Christmas last year, it was nice getting them out, although I'll be putting mine away tomorrow, so hopefully it'll be easily done.

THAT you got a lot accomplished! You just reminded me, I wiped my bed frame down the other day as well, and got the ceiling fan dusted!

Broccoli a calm visit is always nice. Did they bring the 2 home cooked meals?

@wickedelphaba would you like to join us?

70 how was your random freezer dinner?

Ta das:
🧚‍♀️ LOLs x3
🧚‍♀️ handwashed dishes
🧚‍♀️ rotated DW
🧚‍♀️ wiped countertops multiple times throughout the day
🧚‍♀️ took DS to haircut appt
🧚‍♀️ grocery shopping (added all the online coupons I'd use)
🧚‍♀️ made a couple of phone calls - trombone was ready to be picked up (yay!)
🧚‍♀️ picked up trombone
🧚‍♀️ prepped dinner & cleaned up as I went (our turn to host ILs)
🧚‍♀️ enjoyed dinner with ILs (DH smoked the salmon which was delicious! I got the salad and veg ready)

DD is coming tomorrow evening, staying the night. She has a couple appts here, one is to renew her passport.
ILs will be travelling in a couple of days and we'll be watching their dog. He's lovely, although a little boisterous. He also sheds like crazy so I'll be vacuuming more often!

Sunday is renew your spirit day. What do you have planned?
I'm planning on getting the tree down and doing my nails again (they're chipping already).

There are no missions on Sundays.

Baby Step 5: https://www.flylady.net/d/getting-started/31-beginner-babysteps/day-5/
Keep doing the baby steps we've learned so far. Then, if you have any negative thoughts that you won't be able to accomplish having a clean and tidy house (for example), write those down, then write down a positive phrase to counteract that. Put those positive thoughts somewhere you will see them.

Tadas for me yesterday were
Keeping on top of dishes, sink is still clear and clean
3 x LOL
Today
Finish of LOL
Change bedding
Passage floor
Nails and wash (and dry properly) hair
Get stuff ready for work tomorrow

Hows everyones snow levels?

About 6 inches here (NE). Kids having a lovely time- house is covered in drying coats /wellies/gloves as they come in, change, and go back out.

I'm clearing out the craft drawers as they play!

That's a lovely picture, DreamingDaisies, and takes me back
We've just got a faint, soon-to-melt layer here.
I'm still not fully back to normal Flylady-ness. Morning routine has been a bit abbreviated and dusting & hoovering has been on an "as needed" basis.
Today is the last lazy day though and coincides well with it being Epiphany.
At last the magi have reached the Nativity set in church. They've spent all of their time peering out from behind the font. By popular demand from the children, the camels were already there, so I suppose it's no wonder they've taken a long time!
January is also my month for cleaning the church so some of the extra FL tasks may be subsumed by that.

Hello- I would love to join, atm my house slowly descends into chaos until I have a visitor, then spend hours perfecting it in hope they won’t think we’re gross.

We have recently had the loft boarded but haven’t yet decided what to put up there. Would love to know if anyone can share what they keep in their loft? I’m a little worried of things going bad/mouldy up there.

Gone through the toiletries and put a couple of things into Charity Shop bag (you know when you get a 3for2 offer or a BOGOF and find you have 5 bottles of shampoo that you won't use ......... )

@Walkingwalkingwalking
We have the attic boarded but not a living space - our Christmas decoration are up there . Some in suitcases but they're the glass decorations which were stored while the DC were little , now stored because the cats are FurCovered Wrecking Balls so for everyones safety , no glass .
Other things in clear plastic crates -with handles that secure the lids .
Clothes and fabrics ( towels , fleece, Christmas cushions ) either in Vacuum bags or IKEA (Dimpa)
DIMPA storage bag, transparent, 65x22x65 cm - IKEA
DIMPA storage bag, transparent, 65x22x65 cm - IKEA
Winter clothes /Summer clothes

The vacuum bags are good for bulky storage but I found they get brittle over time .

I don't go up there , so DH organises it all .
Everything needs to be in clear covering and fit through the hatch except the suitcases and the Christmas wreaths/swags which go into black bags but we know what they are .

Joining for tips and help. I'm ADHD and a terrible procrastinator